In a few weeks, President Jackson will present the Capital Budget for the 2005 fiscal year to the Board of Trustees. With the parking garage project completed and the Biotechnology building planned for completion this September, other construction projects are set to begin.
According to Vice President for Administration Claude Rounds, a plan to improve the sports facilities on campus, “is the president’s highest priority and we’re moving forward with the expectation that construction will start after commencement.”
Termed by Rounds as the “Sports Improvement Project,” phase one will feature the building of an athletics “support facility” in the vicinity of the Houston Field House. It will include space for both locker rooms and bathrooms.
Rounds also stated that another part of the 2005 fiscal year budget is a plan to change Lower Renwyck Field to an artificial surface and improve drainage and lighting facilities of the field. The budget also calls for the artificial surface of the Harkness Field to be replaced.
Further off in the future and planned for the fiscal year 2006 or beyond is a project to build a second field house for basketball, track, volleyball, tennis, and more, according to Rounds. As part of the master plan for East Campus, the second field house would not replace the Houston Field House, which will continue to be the rink for RPI hockey. It would be open to use for both intramurals and varsity teams.
The project is expected to cost $54 million at a minimum, but could be as much as $70 million depending on the options chosen by the administration. For example, the new gymnasium could be built for four million, but for six million, the facility could be outfitted to host concerts.
“It is absolutely critical that we complete these east campus projects,” Grand Marshal Mike Borzumate said. “The facilities that we provide for our athletes and the rest of our campus community should be commensurate with the remainder of the resources available at this university.”
Borzumate went on to describe how he felt that the campus should not see the projects as strictly athletic facilities as there are benefits for the entire campus.
President Jackson presented the plans for east campus to the Rensselaer Alumni Association Board of Directors this past weekend. The plans for the project call for raising all of the funds directly from donations rather than dipping into existing resources. As result of the fundrasing plans, there is a great deal of involvement needed from the RAA.
The next major construction project for campus, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, is set to begin in the next couple weeks. Groundbreaking at the site, behind the Folsom Library, took place last fall. Major excavation is set to begin before March 1, and current forecasts call for construction to be completed by the summer of 2007.
The newly budgeted construction plans are not just for athletic projects, however. Last summer, many of the freshman residence halls were upgraded and Rounds said that the 2005 budget calls for the “upgrade of upperclassmen residence halls.” He went on to say that any plans to build a new residence hall are far from the final stages and would be slated for the fiscal year 2006 or beyond.
Rounds acknowledged that weather has been a problem in the construction of the Biotechnology building, but he said they are working around it and planning on a dedication and opening this September. He went on to say that, “as we occupy biotech, the president has made a commitment to give research space to the Information Technology and Computer Science departments.”
Pointing out that the Biotechnology center will have 218,000 square feet, Rounds said that there will be an “adaptive reuse of existing space” to ensure that there is ample room to continue ongoing research projects. He referred to master plans calling for new academic buildings as “earlier versions only,” as there are no immediate plans for them to be built.
