A new entrance to Lone Mountain is one of the most visible projects currently underway.
Construction crews
and hard hats are outnumbering students on the University of San
Francisco campus this summer, with a $6.5 million effort to remodel two
residence halls underway and the $30 million renovation of Kalmanovitz
Hall moving forward.
"We have undertaken
an extremely aggressive construction program this summer," said Mike
London, assistant vice president for facilities management.
The
largest renovation of residence hall space in years is taking place in
Fromm Hall and Lone Mountain North. Crews began removing furniture and
tearing out carpet, walls, and bathroom fixtures the day students moved
out in May in order to complete the projects by mid-August, just in
time for a new group of students to move in.
"These crews are
working hard to meet the deadline," London said. "The goal is to
maximize the extent of the upgrades across campus in the very tight
time frame that summer allows."
The renovation
includes remodeling and right-sizing the bathrooms and 248 rooms in the
two residence halls, complete with new copper plumbing, wiring,
fixtures, flooring, and paint. All rooms will also get new keyless door
locks, which require a swipe of the USF identification card and a
personal identification number for entry. The residence hall work will
create an additional 30 beds.
A new entrance to
Lone Mountain is being constructed to make it more accessible and to
keep with the architectural style of the historic building. The new
entrance will feature a portico with skylights and a series of columned
archways leading to automatic double glass doors. The entrance is
scheduled to be complete in early August.
Kalmanovitz Hall
remains the major construction site on campus as the former Campion
Hall is transformed into a home for the humanities and social sciences,
with modern classrooms, faculty offices, labs, and student meeting
space. The structural and seismic upgrades to the 80-year-old building
have been completed and crews are now focusing on the architectural
finishing stage, including constructing new interior walls, and
trenching for utilities and preparing elevator shafts.
In addition, a new
roof with skylights is being installed this summer, and photovoltaic
panels for solar energy will be mounted soon after. In August,
scaffolding will go up around the entire exterior of the building and
will be wrapped in waterproof tarps in preparation for winter.
"Through August and
September of this year, things are going to ramp up quite a bit at
Kalmanovitz," London said. The building remains on track to open for
occupancy in late summer 2008.
Additional projects
taking place across campus this summer include refurbishing Parina
Lounge in University Center, upgrading the main kitchen in the
University Center dining room, installing netting around the baseball
field and a new scoreboard, and the addition of new flooring, paint,
and windows on the pedestrian bridge connecting the main Lone Mountain
building to the residence halls and offices in Lone Mountain North.
