The long-planned, long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for Gustavus’ new academic building will take place this Friday, April 16. The ceremony will be set on the grounds of the new building, west of Christ Chapel and the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library at 3:30 p.m.
The site of the actual groundbreaking will be at the north end of the space, facing Lund Center, which is one of the planned entrances to the new building. The building will be the new home of five departments: communication studies, economics and management, history, psychology, and sociology and anthropology.
“A groundbreaking for any construction project is a moment of celebration,” Barb Larson Taylor, assistant to the president for special projects, said. “The fact that we’re actually at the point of breaking ground is exciting.”
The ceremony is expected to be attended by a host of members representing the Gustavus community, including President Jack Ohle, members of the Board of Trustees, representatives of the Association of Congregations, faculty from the five academic departments being moved, representatives from the architecture and contracting firms, alumni and students.
The groundbreaking marks the beginning of construction that will continue from Friday on.
The building is scheduled to be completed and ready for use in the fall semester of the 2011 academic year. The project is one part of $44 million in capital projects set forward by the Board of Trustees. Also included are plans for renovation of the Anderson Social Science Center and the formation of a west mall stretching from Christ Chapel to the new building.
“It’s been a long time planning,” Director of Physical Plant Warren Wunderlich said of the countless hours of preperation that precede the groundbreaking. “It’s always good to go to the next phase, and ceremonially it will go there Friday.”
Moving five academic departments to a new building will be a big change in the campus dynamic.
“As a building, [SSC] used to be a library. There are all these half-levels and only certain accesses to the third floor. If you don’t know where you’re going, it can be hard to get around,” Junior Sociology and Anthropology and Psychology Double Major Peter Rozumalski said.
“[SSC] gets the job done, but they probably needed it. [Each of the five departments moving] deserves to have their own space. I’m sure they don’t all like being crowded into the basement of SSC,” Junior Economics Major Thomas Parnell said.
Settling on an architect and contractor was a long process before construction could even be considered. As many as seven contractors were interviewed in four to six person teams after initial applications were returned.
”We took our time,” Wunderlich said. “We decided on the contractor that we’ve used for most of our large projects over the past 20 years.”
“From what I’ve seen, it looks awesome, aesthetically and architecturally,” Rozumalski said.
City utility workers and surveyors have been on campus preparing the area for construction, and the entire area has been sectioned off.
“It’s gotten really busy here the last few weeks,” Wunderlich said.
Depending on the weather, construction crews will begin work as soon as possible after Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony is complete. The campus community should expect to see construction equipment and trucks mingling with regular traffic once construction begins.
Additional Resource: Live construction cameras.