Since students left WPI last May, the construction of the Campus Center has continued. At this point the project is considered 55% completed. However, the Campus Center will not be completed before the start of C Term 2001, as was previously anticipated. According to Janet Richardson, the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life, the contract for the Campus Center calls for significant completion of the building in January, with a certificate of occupancy to be obtained in late February 2001. However, the contractor had believed at the beginning of the project, according to Richardson, that he could beat the deadline, and the building could open at the beginning of C Term 2001.
The project has been slowed for many reasons. One of the primary factors, according to Richardson, is the large amount of rain that fell this summer. This rain affected many of the exterior parts of the project, including putting the brick masonry on the building, concrete on the sidewalks near the building, and landscaping the grounds around the building.
Another factor Richardson noted in the slowing of the project was the tight labor market in the construction industry, which causes tight scheduling of parts of the project, including laying concrete. When it rained, this part of the project could not completed until workers could come back. Richardson does feel, however, that work has gone "fairly smoothly" considering the tight labor market.
The decision was made at the end of last year to move Gompei's from Riley Hall to the Campus Center, instead of closing Gompei's completely. Richardson said that the only change in Gompei's will be that more products will be available at the Campus Center than are available now. This is because the limited area that Gompei's occupies in Riley Hall limits the number of food items they can make.
According to Richardson, several parts of the project will be completed in the next few weeks. In the next two weeks, the data lines from the Campus Center will be buried, allowing the cut-through around Higgins Labs to reopen once the concrete can be poured. Also in the next two weeks, some of the landscaping will be done so that it is completed before the planting season ends.
According to Richardson, the most important part of the project will be to enclose the building from the elements by the end of September. Richardson called this part of the project "pivotal." If this is not completed before the end of September, the timetable for the opening will need "major reworking."
Janet Richardson provided some speculation about the transfer of services from different locations around campus into the Campus Center. She said that hopefully the inconvenience to the WPI community will be limited during this transfer. She said that there would be around three weeks from when the building receives its certificate of occupancy until the building will open. During that time, the furniture will be moved into the building, many student offices will move into the Campus Center, the mailroom and the Bookstore will move from Daniels Hall, the Grille will move from Morgan Hall, and Gompei's will move from Riley Hall.
Richardson thinks that the Grille will be shut down for part of C term and into the term break. This will happen because much of the equipment used in the Grille will be reused in the Campus Center. She noted, however, that Morgan Commons will try to feed the commuting and off-campus students that would not have a meal plan. She said that Gompei's may need to close for a few days because only some equipment will be reused.
Richardson says that conversations have been going on with Tatnuck Booksellers, the company that runs the bookstore. She says that the president of Tatnuck is very concerned about how to make sure that students and faculty can get the necessary textbooks entering D Term. One possible option, according to Richardson, is to "split things." She means that the bookstore in Daniels Hall would remain open to buy textbooks, however other products would be stocked in the Campus Center.
Richardson believes that there will be minimal impact on the mailroom. She thinks that the mailroom will only be closed for one weekend during this time to shift mail from Daniels Hall to the Campus Center.