Winter 1996

Construction update

Two major campus construction projects - the Alumni Center for Athletics and Recreation and the addition to Olin Hall - have progressed to interior work. Crews have moved from steel trusses and foundations to the more detailed work such as power outlets and interior walls.

Keeping tabs on the project is Rose-Hulman’s detail man, Wayne Spary, director of the Department of Facilities.

Both projects are on schedule, according to Spary. February is the target date for completing the Olin Hall addition. The athletic/recreation center is set to open its doors next August.

Spary provided the information for this article during an interview/tour of the facilities.

Olin Hall classrooms take shape

Workers enclosed the addition to Olin Hall during the fall as eight new classrooms took shape. Work had progressed to installation of optical and electrical lines in the classrooms. Hallways were discernible along with archway entrances to the building. Crews installed an upgraded power system for the building during late November.

When complete, the Olin addition will include eight state-of-the-art classrooms, a lobby, a student alcove, an outside courtyard and restrooms. Each classroom will seat 40 students with two students at a table. The rooms will be networked so students can use their laptop computers during class. Also, each classroom will contain a podium with a fixed laptop for faculty use. A computer projection system will enhance the delivery of the computerized instruction.

The Olin addition will maintain the red-brick look of the existing building. The addition links on the northwest side of the original structure. The design is one that provides a gateway to the academic area on campus.

The addition will add 18,500 square feet of academic space.

Athletic/recreation center update

Workers should have the new Alumni Center for Athletics and Recreation enclosed by the end of December. Structural steel work was finished in early fall and crews began enclosing the building at that time.

Progress to this point includes:

• concrete poured for the 25-yard, 8-lane swimming pool;
• the floor base poured for the multi-purpose area;
• water lines for showers in the locker rooms;
• all of the roof on;
• utility feed lines for electricity, gas and water.

The target date for completion is August of 1997. That does not include site work, but the building will be open for use at that time.

When the 158,000 square-foot building is complete, it will include the pool, a 1,700-seat competition gym, a 70,000-square-foot fieldhouse, an exercise/wres-tling room, a fitness/weightlifting center, a sports medicine facility, concession stands, and two racquetball courts, and administrative offices.

The competition gym will include an absorbent wood floor modeled in the parquet style of the Boston Garden.

The multiuse fieldhouse will include a 200-meter track, a high-jump pit, a pole vault area, and four basketball court-sized areas. Three of those courts can accommodate basketball and volleyball, and the fourth can also handle tennis and badminton as well as basketball.

Flexibility is a key part of the building’s design. It will be possible to allow men and women’s basketball to practice at the same time the track team is preparing for an upcoming meet. Also, it will alleviate some of the congestion that now occurs with the intramural program because of limited facilities.