Library, Liberal Arts
buildings, Brotman Hall up for remodeling
By
Karla Casillas
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Building updates, better rooms and renovations are some of the major projects
Cal State Long Beach has planned for the next 10 years.
The master plan includes major and minor projects. The plans may change depending
on what incoming university President F. King Alexander wants, according to
Scott Charmack, associate vice president for physical planning and facilities
management.
Current major projects are remodeling the University Library, Peterson Hall
3 replacement, the combination of LA 2, 3 and 4, Peterson Hall-1 and 2, and
adding to Brotman Hall.
The first major project is remodeling the library, beginning in June, Charmack
said. The remodeling will take 16 or 17 months to be completed and contains
four elements. One element is to renovate the second and third floor of the
Academic Advising Center. That part of the library would be used for the College
of Liberal Arts and College of Education.
The second element is adding an automated book storage and retrieval system.
Students will be able to call for books and have the robotic bins bring the
books to them, the library Web site said.
The third element is renovating the first floor of the library. Charmack said
when students walk in through the main entrance of the University Library they
will walk straight to Starbucks. Also, the computer lab on the lower level
of the library will be moved to the first floor.
The fourth element is adding a new library on the north side of campus for
music and art students.
The new library will be 5,000 square feet.
The next project is the PH-3 replacement. The building size will increase to
16,000 square feet and have less landscape around it, but Charmack said the
trees around the building will remain there.
He said they are trying to maintain the campus environment and “not change
the feel and look of it.” If they went up five stories, for example,
it wouldn’t look right because there would be new shadows on campus.
Charmack said he wants to keep the open space and maintain the environment.
Another two major projects are the replacement of LA 2, 3 and 4 and the combination
of PH 1 and PH 2.
A single three-story building will be made out of LA 2, 3 and 4, with courtyards
on both sides. More rooms will be available for instruction, and the computer
labs located there would be moved to the new building the combination of PH
1 and PH 2 will make.
Making PH 1 and PH 2 into one building will free up classroom spaces in the
LA buildings. The computer labs there that used to be classrooms can be made
back into classrooms once the computers are moved to the new building.
The building will also have offices for the College of Liberal Arts.
Other projects planned are adding to Brotman Hall, the possible addition of
a recreation center, adding more rooms to housing and the construction of a
new parking structure.
The addition to Brotman Hall would be built on the other side of the fountain
for the purpose of centralizing student services.
“
It will make it easier on students,” Charmack said. Instead of walking
to the other side of campus for Academic Advising, the center would be located
in the Brotman Hall extension. Students will be able to find all services in
the two buildings.
Students must approve the recreation center before any construction begins
on that project. The building is not state funded, which means students pay
for it. If approved, the recreation center would be built on Lot 11.
The building would have multiple activity rooms and general courts for sports
like basketball and volleyball.
The number of beds in student housing will be doubled, Charmack said. When
that is done more common space and a convenience store will be added to facilitate
the student capacity.
Parking is another student-funded project. The future parking structures are
set to be built on the side of the streets so students can get in and out more
quickly. CSULB has 12,500 spaces. The master plan has 13,000 parking spaces.
The major plans won’t be finished in 10 years, Charmack said. The budget
allows state-funded projects about every three years.
Small projects occur every summer and winter to minimize school disruption,
Charmack said. This summer 35 to 40 projects are planned, including building
repairs, classroom renovations, replacing sidewalks, working on gas lines and
storm drains.
CSULB is aware the student population will increase and wants to accommodate
that, Charmack said. The priority is to increase the instructional capacity
and make the rooms better for students.
|
