Tag: Core campus

By Jackie Todd, Office of Media Relations

Construction continues on Clemson’s main campus during the summer months. More than 70 small and large projects are ongoing, all contributing to modernized campus classrooms, housing, workspace and infrastructure.

While it’s prudent for faculty, staff, students and university visitors to be aware of construction zones, detours and outages, the good news is that the disruptions are anticipated to have less impact than in past years.

Breaking it down

In the northwest campus, workers are enhancing infrastructure for the new Snow Family Outdoor Fitness and Wellness Center. Thanks to a $2.4 million gift, officials say that the center will provide an active learning environment for experiential education; environmental awareness programs; recreational skills; and life skills in leadership, community development and employment.

As part of the infrastructure enhancement, workers will add a sanitary sewer line, which may result in periodic lane closures on Highway 93 from the Y Beach area to Perimeter Road.

With new facilities comes new parking. Toward that end, construction on a parking lot near the Snow Center will begin this summer. The lot will be completed in phases and will eventually offer more than 350 spaces.

Other projects in the main campus’s northwest quadrant include scheduled maintenance on the West Campus Energy Plant next to Fike Recreation Center and upgrades to a stormwater system on Ravenel Road.

Renovations to Littlejohn Coliseum are ongoing and will result in periodic closures to the nearby Avenue of Champions.

Northeast campus

Scheduled to be completed for the fall semester, the Core Campus project is ongoing and will result in road closures in July.

Limited access to Fort Hill Street in July

Fort Hill Street, which is next to the Core Campus site, will become a single-lane street from July 4 until July 22. Construction workers will be on site to direct traffic during that time. The road will close entirely from July 25 through July 29 so that workers can lay the final asphalt coating. Signs will be posted in and around the impacted areas.

Other roads around Core Campus will also close periodically. Union Drive, Alpha Beta Drive and Klugh Street will close from June 27 through July 22 as workers complete roadway construction. During this time, only emergency and special-permit vehicles will have access to this area. Signage will be in place to direct all other traffic.

Southeast campus

The southeast quadrant of campus will see upgrades in various buildings. Java City in the Cooper Library will undergo renovations. The fourth floor of the Watt Family Innovation Center will be completed. Jordan Hall, Lee Hall and Lee III will see small-scale improvements.

As part of what officials call the Central Campus Paving Project, some streets in the area will close periodically so workers can repave the roadway and sidewalks.

Affected streets include:

• Engineering Service Drive
• South Palmetto Boulevard
• Delta Epsilon Court and
• Lambda Street.

Sheep Barn renovations will relocate parking spaces

The renovation of the Sheep Barn has begun. Thanks to a $1 million gift, the Sheep Barn will be transformed into the Barnes Student Activity Center, where officials tout this space as a place that will provide opportunities for student employment, leadership, graduate assistantships and internships and experiential learning. While construction on this site is ongoing, 30 employee parking spaces will be relocated to nearby areas.

Southwest campus

As a new football operations facility is being constructed in the southwest quadrant of campus, those who frequent the area can expect minimal delays. The good news is that this building, anticipated to be completed in 2017, will come with a parking lot that will offer approximately 200 spaces for use by employees and students.

Periodic scheduled electrical outages

Officials advised that some buildings may experience electrical outages to accommodate system upgrades. While outages will take place mostly at night or on weekends, some outages will occur during the workday. Detailed information about these outages will be shared with building security coordinators well in advance of the disruption.

Construction project managers have created a PowerPoint presentation with detailed information about campus projects. Access the PowerPoint here.

By Jackie Todd, Office of Media Relations

Construction continues with projects on much of Clemson’s main campus with temporary closures and parking spot relocations. But officials say with short-term pain, there is a lot of gain.

“I realize that major construction projects create temporary inconveniences, but the long-term results will be worth it,” said President Jim Clements during Tuesday’s Convocation address.

The construction, part of the university’s capital building campaign, is the largest in Clemson’s history and addresses facility needs as well as the needs of a growing student population.

Officials report that over the next five years, the projects will result in about one and half million square feet of additional or renovated space.

One facility construction project is now complete. Contractor M.B. Kahn this past week completed its work on Freeman Hall, which adds 24,000 square feet of office and classroom space to the building.

University Housing and Dining reports that the Core Campus project will begin to take shape during the fall semester. Associate Director of Projects James Bonney said that the building’s steel skeleton should be complete mid semester and workers will begin to install the façade on the buildings.

The majority of the Douthit Hills construction work scheduled for the fall semester will occur on the central and east sides of the site. Bonney said there may be some traffic delays along S.C. Highway 93 near Newman and Cherry Roads as a new road is built, which will connect the north neighborhood to the Newman Road and Hwy. 93 intersection. Once completed, Daniel Drive will be closed for construction. Bonney said this will likely take place at the end of this year or beginning of 2016. Additionally, Daniel Drive and Martin will be closed for repairs Aug. 25 and 26.

Although most construction activities on these large-scale projects will be contained inside the project’s site fence, duct banks will be dug along the side of some campus roads to access underground utilities.

Some other smaller-scale projects include:

• Hardin Hall/Brackett Hall ADA sidewalk: A five-foot walk/ramp will be open on the Brackett side; however, the remainder of the area will be blocked off and under construction until mid-October.
• Cooper Plaza level brick paver project: There will be no access to the plaza level until end of August.
• Hendrix Center outdoor patio: The sidewalk from McMillan Road to the Hendrix Center, across the street from Redfern Health Center will be blocked through mid-October. However, the sidewalk that borders McMillan Road will be open.
• Electrical duct bank: This affects Calhoun Drive from Brackett Hall to Riggs Hall. Traffic will temporarily be restricted to one lane only and parking will be available on one side of the street.

Your resources

Visit the Building Futures website for information on Clemson’s capital campaign projects.

The Facilities department lists outages, road closures and other disruption events on the university calendar.

Parking and Transportation Services also offers information about parking closures, road closures and transit issues.

By Anna Simon, Office of Media Relations

As social change in the 1950s and ’60s transformed Clemson College into a university for all students across South Carolina and the world, a surge of campus construction provided modern classrooms, housing and amenities of that era and set the stage for Clemson University to become the respected research institution it is today.

Brackett, Lee I, Newman and Earle halls, Poole Agricultural Center, the President’s House, Harcombe Dining Hall and Thornhill Village are a sampling from a long list of projects that added more than 844,000 square feet of facilities to the campus during the 1950s – more square footage than all of the current campus buildings constructed prior to that time, starting with Fort Hill.

Looking back 50 years, Manning, Lever and Daniel halls, Strode Tower, Schilletter Dining Hall, Redfern Health Center, Littlejohn Coliseum and Rhodes Engineering Research Center were among 26 projects completed between 1965 and 1970. Now Clemson looks ahead to a new wave of construction to prepare for the next 50 years.

Next week, work will begin on the Douthit Hills project, a $212 million residential village—one of the largest residential projects in the university’s history. Douthit Hills, to be built along Hwy. 93, will dramatically enhance one of the main gateways to campus and provide much-needed housing for the university’s upper classmen and Bridge to Clemson students. Additionally, the complex will offer dining and mixed-use facilities for the Clemson community.

To make way for the state-of-the-art complex, the university is working closely with a certified arborist to identify and assess the trees that will be removed from the site. When the project is completed in 2018, many new trees will be planted; ultimately resulting in more trees than were removed and greater species diversity.

A nearly complete addition to Freeman Hall, home of the Industrial Engineering Department, will open this fall, along with WestZone Phase 3 and suite improvements in Memorial Stadium and an addition to the Doug Kingsmore Baseball Stadium.

Next year will see completion of the Watt Family Innovation Center and Core Campus development. The $30 million Watt Family Innovation Center, a four-story 70,000-square-foot innovation incubator made possible in part by a gift from the Watt family of Kennesaw, Ga., will connect students, industry partners and state-of-the-art information technology to take ideas from concept to marketplace. The $96 million Core Campus project, behind the Edgar A. Brown University Union, includes student housing, dining facilities and the new home of the Calhoun Honors College.

Work starts this summer on a Littlejohn Coliseum renovation and addition to open for the 2016-17 basketball season, and a $212 million residential village and central hub at Douthit Hills to house upperclassmen as well as freshmen in the Bridge to Clemson program beginning in the fall of 2018.

Campus visitors often ask what’s inside the Sheep Barn. This historic turn-of-the-century agricultural relic outlived its original use long ago. In December 2016 it will reopen as the Barnes Center, another new amenity made possible by a generous gift from the Barnes family in honor of Frank S. Barnes Jr. of Rock Hill.

A west campus energy plant to add capacity and mitigate outage risk and an Advanced Technological Education Center that includes a workforce development center, both in planning and design, also will open during 2016.

Perhaps the most dramatic future project is a new home for Clemson’s College of Business and Behavioral Science. A majestic glass entrance to this new home of Clemson’s second largest college will look out on Bowman Field from across Highway 93, in front of the alumni and visitor center. Bobby McCormick, interim dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Science, describes the planned academic building as “a home for these students, not just a place to go to class.” It will be “part of a corporate culture” where coming to class will be akin to going to the office, McCormick says. Architects’ renderings show a large ground-floor atrium with a coffee shop and illuminated stock market ticker data running along the walls.

These are some of the coming attractions that will transform the Clemson campus in the next few years. Other plans include electrical infrastructure upgrades, a football operations facility, an outdoor wellness and fitness center, a child care center and renovations of Vickery Hall and Lightsey Bridge I. Plans further down the road include Mauldin and Daniel hall renovations, a tennis center, a wastewater treatment plant upgrade and demolition of 1950s-era Johnstone and Harcombe hall.

Construction fences will come and go across the campus like curtains on a stage, each lifting to reveal another piece of Clemson’s next act. Please pardon our progress. The reward will far outweigh the temporary inconvenience. Clemson is building for the future, to serve 21^st century students and offer greater opportunities for all South Carolinians.

Clemson has created a website that provides more information about the revitalization of its main campus. Learn more here.

By Jackie Todd, Office of Media Relations

Fort Hill Street to reopen this week

It’s about to get a little easier to travel through the heart of Clemson’s main campus. Fort Hill Street, which closed Oct. 26 to accommodate Core Campus construction, will reopen on Nov. 21, according to James Bonney, associate director of residential facilities–projects.

“We tried to make this closure as painless as possible for faculty, staff, students and visitors,” said Bonney. “But we do know that construction – particularly in the middle of campus – is disruptive. So, we want to thank everyone for their patience.”

Pedestrians will be able to use the sidewalk south of Fort Hill Street adjacent to Stadium Suites and the Shoeboxes. However, the sidewalk bordering the Core Campus construction site will remain closed until the end of the year. Detour signage in that area will remain in place.

Additionally, the barricade on Calhoun Street at Brackett Hall that was lifted to allow two-way traffic on that street will be back in place. Calhoun Street – from Route 93 to Fort Hill Street – will revert back to a one-way thoroughfare.

For questions, contact James Bonney at jbonney@clemson.edu.

Centennial Boulevard and Press Road to close Dec. 1

Portions of Centennial Boulevard and Press Road will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic beginning Dec. 1 to accommodate Memorial Stadium West End Zone renovations. Centennial Boulevard will be closed from the intersection of Press Road to the entrance of the CU police station. Press Road will be open for parking, but parking will be restricted. The work is scheduled to be completed August 2015. Detour signage will direct traffic to alternate routes.

Potential hazards include construction vehicles, overhead crane work, noise and dust.  For questions or more information, please Sam X. Zanca at 864-656-4270 or szanca@clemson.edu.

By Jackie Todd, office of Media Relations

Clemson’s main campus is about to get much-needed improvements. Clemson’s Board of Trustees, the South Carolina Budget and Control Board and other entities recently approved the university’s Core Campus project.

To be located adjacent to the Johnstone complex in the heart of Clemson’s main campus, the $96 million Core Campus project will feature a 260,000-square-foot mixed-use facility that will include student housing and dining facilities. The facility will offer approximately 700 beds in the residential portion of the project, add a 1,000-seat dining hall and retail dining options to replace the aging Harcombe facility and administrative support spaces. The complex will also include approximately 5,000 feet of space dedicated to seminar and meeting areas for faculty and students.

Clemson students, who recently conducted a Social Media campaign under the #ClemsonNeeds hashtag are excited about the project.

“Clemson students have needed these new housing developments for many years now,” said student body President Kayley Seawright. “Facilities play an integral role in not only campus life but also in recruitment. If we want to continue to bring the best students to the state of South Carolina, we need the state support to invest in these competitive facilities.”

What this means for Clemson

University data indicates that Clemson students who live on campus for the first two years have significantly higher GPAs and graduation rates.

This project is part of Clemson’s 20-year Housing Master Plan, which uses a variety of ways to address the university’s housing strategy. The plan calls for new construction to replace older buildings that have large deferred maintenance needs, but are functionally obsolete for today’s college student, or financially obsolete due to its value, cost to renovate and replacement value. Core Campus is in part replacement housing for the remaining section of Johnstone Hall, which was built in 1955.

Doug Hallenbeck, associate vice president for Student Affairs and executive director of University Housing and Dining, maintains that the new facility will invigorate the center of campus.

“Core Campus is the first step in revitalizing the Clemson campus experience. This will be a dynamic housing and dining community that will transform the core of campus into a dynamic hub of activity not only for the students that live there, but also for all the Clemson family.”

Hallenbeck also contends that updated facilities will contribute to student recruitment. Market survey data indicates that there is a decline in the percentage of students who live on campus. Additionally, students who went elsewhere to college listed housing as a reason why they did not choose Clemson.

“When students come to campus to visit as they are making their decision on where to go to school, our facilities have to be able to compete with other schools,” he said. “New housing and dining facilities put us in a position to compete for the best and brightest students. The quality of campus facilities is an indicator on the value the institution puts on the quality of the experience and education.”

Construction on the project is expected to begin this summer.