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It's been a busy summer for construction projects at Saint Louis University.
One of the most anticipated new projects, the renovation of the old Laclede Town area into recreational facilities, had to wait while the federal government continued with site preparation and demolition work.
"After HUD completes the demolition, they will turn the site over to the city, which will then turn the site over to us," said Kathleen Brady, vice president for facilities management and civic affairs.
HUD probably won't deed the site over to the city until November, she said. Construction will begin after that.
"We're looking at completing construction on the new recreational facilities next spring," Brady said. Brady said the project - which includes a tennis complex, a softball diamond, a walking path, a 1.7 acre lagoon and a barbecue/picnic area Ñ is out for bid now. Bids are due in early September.
One project affected by the Laclede Town delay is the new 2,100-space parking structure on the Frost campus.
"The parking garage is directly affected by HUD and their work in Laclede Town," Brady said. "The garage will be completed when we get the rest of the Laclede Town property."
Nevertheless, 400 spaces in the garage were ready, as expected, for the start of the school year. The new spaces help accommodate the extra students, faculty and staff now on the Frost campus due to the relocation of Parks College of Engineering and Aviation.
"Plus there's a new parking lot at Spring and Lindell near the York Masonic Temple, which was completed over the summer," Brady said.
This summer also saw the completion of the new McDonnell Douglas Hall for Parks College. Faculty and staff members put in many extra hours to make sure that the labs and classrooms were up and running for the first day of school.
"The biggest thing that came about at the last minute was the decision to move the airframe and power plant program over here in a building on Washington," Brady said. "We had a very short time to get that done. It had to be done early enough so that it could be inspected by the FAA prior to the start of school.
"The FAA inspection went well, and everything is a go for that program to proceed in the building on Washington, named Amelia Earhart Hall."
In other construction news:
- The Student Village lost some construction time due to weather this spring and summer.
"Three of the four buildings that were expected for the beginning of the school year are completed," Brady said. "The fourth one is partially completed."
The other four buildings in the eight-building complex will be turned over to the University as they are completed, Brady said. "It likely will be in two- to three-week intervals," she said.
Brady said that all of the remaining work on the Student Village should be completed by the first of the year.
To account for demand, some students have been placed in temporary housing, including about 100 students in the State Apartment building. Students will be moved out of these temporary spaces as units become available in the new Student Village.
- The School of Law construction project involves the renovation of the Queens Daughters mansion, construction of a new atrium on Morrissey Hall and the construction of a new building to connect Queens Daughters with Morrissey, just behind Xavier Hall.
"We lost a little bit of time because when the demolition occurred on the annex to the Queens Daughters mansion the construction crew discovered a subsurface problem that affected the foundation," Brady said. "It necessitated a redesign of the new addition.
"We were hoping for an end-of-the-year completion. Now we are scheduling a February completion."
Brady said there is a substantial amount of work finished in the mansion itself, and work on the connector building is under way.
"Nothing is visible yet in terms of the atrium that faces the clock tower," she said.
- Construction of a new building for the School of Allied Health Professions started this summer. Brady said the project is going well.
"We're scheduled to open a year from now, fall of 1998," Brady said.
- Bids also have been accepted for the new Center for Advanced Dental Education.
"Those bids came in within the estimate," Brady said. "Alberici Construction was the low bidder and has been awarded the job. Construction should begin in September."