Appalachian State University’s new 115,000 square-foot
education building has completed its first phase, but before phase
two can begin, the North Carolina Office of Insurance and the
Office of State Construction has to approve the plans.
“We have to respond and revise drawings to meet their (Office
of State Construction) needs,” said Greg Lovins, ASU’s
interim vice chancellor for business affairs. “That’s
where the process is right now.”
An artist’s rendering
of ASU’s college of education building currently
under construction.
Graphic submitted
Phase one, completed by Greene Construction, installed utilities
underground and prepared a level base for the main building. Lovins
said the university hopes to start receiving bids in April 2008
for mobilization to begin around May 2008.
“We had to make some minor last minute changes inside,”
he said. “One department was being added and one being dropped.”
The Department of Family and Consumer Science currently housed
in the College of Fine and Applied Arts will be joining the Reich
College of Education, and communication disorders will be joining
the proposed new health college. Due to the change, the Department
of Family and Consumer Science will be added to the new education
building, while communication disorders will be housed in University
Hall.
“It is a big deal for us when we have to change places,”
Lovins said. “But in terms of raw numbers, we are not moving
half the college out.”
ASU has been waiting for the new building’s approval for
quite some time.
“We have to go through the approval process,” Lovins
said. “It’s a back and forth thing between construction
folks and the plans … Right now, it is a good time for construction.”
In the meantime, ASU is making preparations for its new $34 million
building. The university is currently upgrading its regional chiller
located beside the student union and across the street from the
library. The building provides chilled air and water to the surrounding
areas. To make sure the chiller has the capacity to cool the new
building, workers are making minor adjustments.
But these minor adjustments required the chiller to be shut down
for almost two weeks. Lovins said they picked these two weeks
because usually the weather is cold, but due to the abnormal bout
of heat, the process has turned up the temperature in ASU’s
library.
“We regret it because the staff that works in the library,
students that are studying, and faculty that are researching are
dealing with the heat, but it should be fixed by Friday,”
Lovins said.
While the library battles the warm temperatures, ASU is on a standstill
until the state approves the revised plans. Lovins said the university
still hopes to finish the building by spring 2011.
“We hope by the beginning of May you will start seeing a
lot of equipment and, hopefully, even before then,” he said.
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