Construction advances during summer months

Although summer has begun, IU is anything but inactive. As students relax, work or even attend summer classes, campus has been buzzing with construction. \nConstruction at IU-Bloomington comprises just a portion of the more than $900 million in construction taking place across all eight IU campuses, said University Architect Bob Meadows.\nSimon Hall, which will house research space for biology, chemistry and some medicine, is nearly finished after three years of construction. Meadows said the building will open in about a month for faculty. Depending on the faculty members placed in Simon Hall, research in the building may include topics like cancer, said Suzanne Schwartz, program manager for interdisciplinary biochemistry graduate studies. \nAnother building that hasn’t taken as much time to construct as Simon Hall is the classroom and office building that will be located on Third Street, across from Swain Hall East. Construction began in February, and project superintendent Oliver Haste said the first floor should be open to professors by August 2. The first floor will house classrooms, and the second floor will contain offices. \nThis is the first time the construction company Haste works for, Shiel Sexton, has built a building on campus. Haste said construction is progressing relatively well. \n“Things are going smoothly,” Haste said. “But if it was an easy thing, everyone would do it.” \nThe building next to the new classroom and office building, Margrave Apartments, will be torn down to build a new optometry clinic. Some at IU and in the Bloomington community oppose the decision to tear it down, citing the apartment complex’s historical value. Lynn Coyne, assistant vice president for IU real estate and economic development, said the building is not historic, just old. He added that leveling it is more advantageous than preserving it. \n“They’re building a new clinic and making room for new research space in the School of Optometry,” he said, noting the new clinic will be more accessible to patrons, and facilities will be newer. \nThe Atwater parking garage, located between Third Street and Atwater Avenue, appears to be the only project that has suffered setbacks. Meadows said it will be finished a month later than promised, around October or early November, because of excavation problems. \n“They ran into rock and two or three (water) springs,” Meadows said. “But it appears to be on track now.” \nMeadows also mentioned Kirkwood Hall as another major renovation project on campus. The building, constructed in 1894, is home to the administrative offices of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Scaffolding currently protects much of the exterior that is being worked on, and the roof is also being redone. Meadows said construction on the building should be done around December. \nDespite all of the construction going on around campus, Meadows said is glad that everything is going well. \n“Amazingly, it is going smoothly,” he said.