Cross Campus’s lush lawn once again calls out to sunbathers and soccer players, but the planned re-opening of the library later this semester will not bring an end to the sight of blue construction walls and tarps around campus. The following is a road map to the biggest construction projects of 2007.
Jonathan Edwards College: The JE renovation, which follows a partial renovation in 1994, began this summer. It will include substantial reconfigurations of student suites, getting rid of all bunk beds and turning dreaded triples into doubles. Originally slated to be the last residential college to be renovated, JE will have its remodeling followed by Calhoun (which saw a partial renovation in 1989), Ezra Stiles and Morse colleges over the next three years.
Silliman College: This largest of the residential college renovation projects was scheduled to be completed in time for the academic year to begin. While student rooms are open for occupancy, the basement common spaces remain closed. Project manager Jeff Brown said the rooms will be ready “imminently” and he attributed delays to the large scope of the renovation project.
History of Art and Art & Architecture buildings: The interior of the Art & Architecture building is being overhauled, though the exterior — designed by Paul Rudolph and an example of Brutalism — will remain the same. Rising next to the A&A on York Street is a new History of Art building, which will house the entire department, as well as classrooms and a newly expanded arts library.
Kroon Hall: The new home for the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, being built on Science Hill, is suitably “green.” Expected to meet and exceed LEED Platinum standards for sustainable design, the building will be the first on campus to reach that standard, the highest issued by the U.S. Green Building Council. The minimum standard for all new construction on campus is two steps below Platinum, LEED Silver.
Social Science Academic Building: Construction on a new home for the political science and sociology departments is scheduled to begin next month on Prospect Street. The building will replace existing Political Science and Sociology buildings, freeing up space that may be used for two new residential colleges, depending on the conclusions reached in December by several committees studying the proposal.
University Health Services Center: In a few years, freshmen new to the effects of a long night out will have to trek to the corner of Canal and Lock streets to find a bed in “D.U.H.” Construction on the new home for Yale University Health Services is slated to begin in December and is expected to last two years. UHS officials have welcomed the new building, saying the existing facility on Hillhouse Avenue is too small to serve a growing population of students, faculty and staff.
—Steven Siegel