Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Quadrangle project will be worth the wait
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Work has begun on a major project that will create a new focal point for the USI campus – a quadrangle between the University Center, Rice Library, Technology Center, new College of Business and General Classroom Building, and Liberal Arts Center. Construction and landscaping of the project – the final piece of the library project - will continue through fall 2007, creating obstacles to foot-traffic flow. But the results will be breathtaking. “The work is fairly extensive. We’ll probably be working on it through mid- to late fall,” said Fred Kalvelage, USI staff architect and construction manager. “Because we’re pedestrian-based on this part of campus, there are many things to work around. As we close sidewalks and walkways off, we have to coordinate that with how we move students around.” Click here to view the sidewalk closings related to the construction project. Deig Brothers Construction, the contractor that worked on Rice Library, began erosion and settlement controls on the quadrangle last week. After those are in place, the sidewalks between the University Center and the Technology Center and the Liberal Arts Center and the Technology Center will be closed. A road will be constructed so work vehicles can construct a tunnel that will allow access to utilities for the new College of Business. “Even though that’s at least two years from being needed, it’d be a shame to tear up the quadrangle twice, so we’ve decided to put the tunnel in now,” Kalvelage said. During the first phase of construction, students, faculty, and staff will have to access the Technology Center via the Rice Library Terrace. A temporary cement walk will be constructed from the library to the Technology Center entrance. In May the second phase will commence and the sidewalk leading from the Liberal Arts Center to the University Center will be closed. “This will have to be done very carefully because of high traffic between the LA and the UC,” Kalvelage said. “That’s the second highest traffic area on campus. We’ll probably start mid-May as soon as school is out for the summer, and then we’ll only have summer classes to deal with.” When the work is complete, the center of campus will be transformed. The quadrangle will include many new areas of landscaping and seating, while leaving open a lawn area for games of Frisbee and lounging in the sun. “There will be many trees and extensive vegetation carefully calculated to be blooming at all times of year,” said Mark Rozewski, vice president for Business Affairs. “It’s an extensive, and very intentional, design with a deep knowledge of horticulture.” A fountain will replace the circular landscaped area between the University Center and Rice Library. An inverted natural amphitheatre will provide seating in front of Rice Library, with stairs leading up to the terrace. Trees planted on either side of the seating area will frame the entrance to the library. A paved labyrinth modeled after New Harmony’s Cathedral Labyrinth will be constructed in front of the Liberal Arts Center. “The concept was that we wanted a living reference on campus to our relationship with New Harmony,” Rozewski said. The Cathedral Labyrinth is a replica of the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, built in the 12th century near Paris, France. The consultant on the USI project, Labyrinth Enterprises of St. Louis, also worked on the Cathedral Labyrinth, described as “the most beautiful labyrinth in the United States.” The quadrangle design team included Campus Studio of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Hafer Associates of Evansville. Campus Studio created the current USI master plan. Rozewski said the quadrangle project is part of the University’s overall goal of building community. “We want to create a campus that is much more than a place you take a class, but a place you love to be, and this is another part of that effort.” In the meantime, students, faculty, and staff should be careful in these areas. “For their own safety, people need to cooperate with construction and not walk into an area that has been barricaded,” Kalvelage said. |
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