At any one time, RPI is working on 70–100 construction projects, a schedule Vice President of Administration Claude Rounds describes as “pretty active.” With the October 3 opening of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center right around the corner, the campus is busy with facilities projects.
Construction at EMPAC is proceeding to completion. All that is left is finishing details, according to Rounds. He professes the “building will speak for itself.”
In connection with EMPAC, apartments at 86–90 College Avenue—where artists, researchers, and residents associated with the center will live—are also nearing completion. Rounds stated that great progress will be seen at West Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Winslow Building by the October 3 festivities. The exterior restoration of the Eighth Street entrance of West Hall will be complete, though the north and east sides of the building will not be finished until 2009. The Eighth Street entrance of Carnegie Hall, which has long been closed, will also be open by the EMPAC welcoming, in addition to the renovation of 10 classrooms inside Carnegie Hall. The Winslow Building is getting new windows and a general repair of the exterior.
The Gateway Monument on Eighth Street, though work started on it this week, will not be worked on until after the EMPAC opening. The stone with “Rensselaer” written on it, which will be the focal point of the monument, can not be ready in time for the EMPAC opening.
Much of the construction on campus has to do with Residence Life. Two projects which greatly affect students are the restorations of Sage Dining Hall and Sharp Hall. The 4,000-square-foot addition to Sage Dining Hall allows for more students to eat there, and offers a greater variety. A little more work needs to be done on the outside, but this will be completed in the next month or so, according to Rounds.
Renovations on Sharp Hall have been completed. Improvements and additions to residence halls will continue. Fifteen residence structures which were not economical to restore have been demolished, and remedial work such as putting in sidewalks is being completed on the lots. What was formerly the Best Western Hotel will now be called the Sixth Street Residence Hall. Work is being done by a contractor, and there has already been significant transformation. Students should be able to occupy the air-conditioned double rooms with private baths by summer 2009. By that time, 296 students and Residence Life staff will be accommodated.
Improvements are also being made to academic buildings. At this point, the Science Center addition is still in the conceptual stage. More tangible improvements have been made in the School of Engineering and biology labs. State of the art equipment can be found in many undergraduate labs. This two-year project is entering its second phase.
The East Campus Athletic Village is also on schedule. The first phase of renovations on the Houston Field House is done, and the locker rooms should be ready before the start of hockey season.
As the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 is planned, Rounds looks ahead to future projects. One such project will be the George M. Low ’48 Center for Industrial Engineering. Remedial repairs will be made on the light color brick, a chance to improve the architecture. This will be a three-year project which will happen in phases.
