Spring semester started with a little more bang than some students bargained for. As they tried to enter the College Complex building from the front quad they were greeted with barriers and an orange sign with a black arrow pointing to the right saying, “Detour Access to College Complex.”
Ernesto Ramirez, Capitol Projects Manager, suggests students become familiar with routes around the construction.
“Our hope is the noisiest part of construction will be done while nobody is on campus being disturbed.” said Senior Dean of Students, Gail Newman.
The focus of the construction is remodeling of portions of the third and fourth floors in the College Complex with the final goal of creating a one-stop Student Services Center.
All services except Student Life will be housed in the new center.
“A computer kiosk will be in the middle of the room with staff on hand to help future students enroll at LMC,” Newman said.
According to Dr. Kevin Horan, LMC’s vice president, “The remodel project included numerous enhancements to make the offices and services accessible to students.”
The new center will house services in such a way they will work together as they should. For example, registration will be situated near financial aid, The Welcome Center near Counseling so entering students can speak with a counselor about what classes they should take.
“The new center will be more logically arranged for more convenience to students and faculty,” Newman said. “We envision a Success Center with transfer, career, and counseling all in one.” Currently services such as financial aid, counseling, and registration are scattered across campus during construction.
Students certainly get their exercise as they sprint around campus trying not to be late for class.
Ramirez thinks that the first two to three weeks students were learning the new routes around the construction, but have since adapted well.
Newman described the shuffling of staff and offices around campus for the construction project as using creativity while still attempting to keep as much convenience as possible to students and faculty.
“When dealing with renovations there are always unforeseen issues that arise we have to deal with but nothing that is affecting students.” Ramirez said, “We know that the new Student Services Center will be well worth the impact to the students during construction.”
When construction is complete the outside of the College Complex building will match the exteriors of the new math, science and library buildings.
“The current Student Services remodel phase of the project, not including the construction costs related to temporary swing space for the displaced offices during construction, is a $16.5 million project that is funded by the 2006 Local Facilities Bond (Measure A+),” said Horan.
An estimated date of December 2014 is set for the completion of construction. But the new center won’t be fully furnished and ready for operations until Summer 2015.
