Incoming freshmen can expect to see some neon orange with the blue on campus as they navigate around Auburn this fall.
Though there are 16 major projects on the horizon, here are some of the top construction areas directly affecting the campus area and student life.
1. Mell Classroom Building
What used to be the main entrance of Ralph Brown Draughon Library is now a boxed-off construction site slated to become the home of the 69,000-sqaure-foot Mell Classroom Building in 2017.
As the most central campus construction project, the development affects bicycle, pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
There is no thru traffic on West Thach Avenue, and no vehicles can drive along the section of Mell Street in between Roosevelt Drive and West Thach Avenue.
However, there is no major inconvenience for pedestrians besides the closure of the Mell Street entrance to the library.
Now the only entry into the library is through the first-floor parking deck.
The $35 million project is the first in a series of projects to “transform and enhance teaching and learning” through classrooms fashioned to offer “flexible, problem based learning space,” such as Engaged Active Student Learning spaces.
It will have 40 new and renovated group study rooms, 29 active learning classrooms, two lecture halls and food venues.
At the closing of the spring 2016 semester, SGA began considering several food venue suggestions for the classroom building, which was originally planned to be an Einstein’s Bagels before Panera Bread approached campus dining about coming to campus.
Ninety percent of students who voted between the two options chose Panera in the Mell Classroom Building and Einstein’s at the bottom of the Haley Center.
Construction should wrap up June 2, 2017, and the classroom is scheduled to open Aug. 10, 2017.
2. Auburn Memorial
Spearheaded by SGA executive officers, the Auburn Memorial will be a place to honor and recognize students, faculty, staff, alumni and other Auburn members.The 4.25-acre memorial will add to the Garden of Memory located across from the President’s Mansion on the corner of Mell Street and West Samford Avenue.
It will include installation of a walkway winding through the garden from Samford Avenue to Mell Street, a memorial wall inscribed with stanzas excerpted from the Auburn Creed, a seating area and a new plaza.
The $1.25 million project will also include a stairway entrance from Mell Street, pond and stream enhancements and development of a larger lawn space.
The purpose of the memorial is to “maintain and improve the existing garden” and “improve pathways and water quality of pond and steam so it is visually appealing and sustainable," said Ben Burmester. Auburn Memorial design project manager and Facilities Management campus planner, in an open forum last October.
The garden will remain closed until August, during which parking along the garden as well as pedestrian traffic will be affected, according to Facilities Management.
Construction is scheduled to end Aug. 21.
3. Band Practice Complex
Specifically affecting parking in RO and C Zones adjacent to Band Practice Complex, the upgrades to the complex will close a portion of these parking spaces until January 2017.
The renovations will add 7,250 square feet to the complex with dressing rooms, a storage building and an artificial turf field in place of the current sod field.
“Back in 2008, we talked about how we needed some kind of coverage for inclement weather as a safety concern,” said Associate Band Director Corey Spurlin in reference to the pavilion in an interview with The Plainsman in February.
The turf field will drain better and won’t produce ruts, a safety issue the sod field presents, David Allain, junior drumline major, told The Plainsman in February as well.
The project will extend through the football season and is scheduled to finish Dec. 14.
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