During the regular school year construction can be seen around campus. However, in the summer construction seems to pick up and be even more visible to people walking through campus. 

Iowa State has a few big projects going on that were visible to students when they left after spring semester. These include Troxel Hall, the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering building, renovations in Curtiss Hall, the new Jeff and Deb Hansen Agricultural Learning Center and renovations to Frederiksen Court.

Dean McCormick, Director for Design and Construction Services, oversees the construction projects going around on campus. One of the most anticipated buildings is the new Troxel Hall, a building that is strictly an auditorium that seats 400 people, the first of its kind at Iowa State. 

“The building for all intended purposes is done,” McCormick said. 

Troxel has an $11 million price tag. It is funded by a private gift of $4.75 million from Iowa State alumnus Douglas Troxel (’67), $5 million from the Iowa State tresasurer’s temporary investments, $1 million from the facilities overhead use allowance, and $250,000 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

“We are on budget,” McCormick said. “We’re also on schedule and we’ll use the summer as sort of a shakedown cruise of some sorts. We’re on schedule to be ready by the start of fall classes.”

On the east side of campus, the large and prominent Biorenewables Complex is being built. It currently houses the Biorenewable Laboratory that was completed in 2010. Two additions, Elings Hall and Sukup Hall, are being completed with an atrium connecting the two. The new complex comes at a steep $74.5 million, funds coming from private gifts totaling $13,539,360 and $60,400,000 in capital appropriations.

“The structure for the atrium is there. We’re working to enclose that right now. That building is moving towards enclosure and will be enclosed later this summer or early fall. That building is scheduled for occupancy in the fall of 2014,” said McCormick.

In May 2012, renovation work began in Curtiss Hall’s lower level, under the large auditorium used for many classes. This area is known as the Harl Commons and is considered phase one of the work being done in the 100-year-old building.

This first phase in it’s entirety is funded by $6,953,780 in private giving, $4,986,020 worth of university funds, facilities overhead use allowance of $1,762,000 and $533,000 in deferred maintenance/academic building revenue bonds.

“Curtiss has been a multiphase project. The current major project is the Harl Commons project and that renovates sort of that east side in the area under the auditorium. There have been some challenges since we’re in a 100-year-old building. You always find a few things you didn’t expect. We’re still shooting for mid-August completion date. There are future projects, this [Harl Commons] is the last one of the phase one piece of that,” said McCormick.

Over by the ice arena, the Jeff and Deb Hansen Agricultural Learning Center is being built. The center is named after Jeff and Deb Hansen who pledged $2 million of it’s total $7.3 million project cost. The remaining $5.3 million is funded by other private gifts and $300,000 in university funding. 

“In the spring we were doing foundations. We were really in on the site and it’s been impacted [by rainfall]. We’re still looking to finish that in late fall. Right now it projects out to a November completion date,” said McCormick.

Spencer Williams, sophomore in agronomy, supports the new additions to campus and is not against Iowa State helping with the funding of these buildings, especially since they will hold much more new technology. 

“As a student, I want to be paying for something that is top of the line,” Williams said.

Smaller projects can be seen around campus such as sidewalk repairs and replacements.

Notable jobs include entrances in front of Ross Hall and over by the Durham Center.

Sidewalk repairs for general campus sidewalks are funded by the university. 

“This year we were able to get some additional funding and a contractor to do it,” said Lester Lawson, grounds manager in the Facilities Planning and Management department. 

“The walk around the construction zone isn’t bad. If it does delay you, it isn’t by much,” Williams said. 

Residence hall projects also really take off once school is out for the summer.

“This is a hot time for Department of Residence projects. When the students are gone, or at least there are fewer of them, we try to do things where there is a definite impact on students and their ability to use Iowa State,” McCormick said. “Deferred maintenance projects aren’t glamorous, but they are important in maintaining our buildings, making them good places for learning, living and working.”

Six buildings are being added to Frederiksen Court to help meet the demand of students who want to live on campus. These six buildings are being funded by Department of Residence funds. A price tag of a total estimated $35 million is put on the six additions.

“The first two, building 35 and building 36, we’re due to have complete at the beginning of August and ready for student occupancy for fall semester. The rest of them are for subsequent semesters,” McCormick said. 

While there are visible constructions jobs going on around campus, there are also many that students may not always see or take into account. These could include bathroom upgrades, sprinkler projects and fire alarm projects. 

“We have a lot of projects on campus at any one time. We always have between 30–40 projects that are going on in buildings that most people probably don’t know about. We take a little bit of pride in that because if people aren’t noticing them, we must be doing something right,” McCormick said.