Building Projects Under Way

THERE'S A NEW LOOK TO THE FACE OF CAMPUS

     COLUMBUS -- Several major construction projects at The Ohio 
State University are giving a new look to the face of campus.

     Construction for the $91.9 million Max M. Fisher College of 
Business at Woodruff Avenue and Tuttle Park Place has begun with 
excavation, utilities work and foundations.

     The $84.5 million Schottenstein Arena also is under way at 
Lane Avenue and Olentangy River Road, as is the $4.9 million 
Davis Baseball Stadium just north of the arena on Fyffe Road.

     Off-site utilities work to serve the business college site 
and north campus buildings has closed Neil Avenue and Neil Avenue 
Mall between Woodruff and 17th avenues, 19th Avenue between 
Magruder and Neil Avenue and the pedestrian portion of 18th 
Avenue between Magruder and Neil. Provisions have been made for 
pedestrian and wheelchair traffic alongside and crossing the work 
areas.

     The north entrance to the Northwest Parking Garage no longer 
is available because that portion of Neil Avenue has been 
permanently closed. Access to the garage is via Tuttle Park Place 
and a new Ives Drive extension. That route also provides 
bookstore access from the north via Tuttle Park and Ives. 
Planning is under way to expand the garage by adding 
approximately 800 spaces by 1998. 

     Another major project, the city of Columbus's 12th Avenue 
Storm Sewer Separation, which has closed several campus streets 
this summer, will be completed on campus so that the affected 
streets and sidewalks will be available for arriving students. 
However, the intersection of 12th Avenue and North High Street 
will remain closed at the start of autumn quarter, precluding 
entering or leaving the campus by vehicle at that location.

Other projects

     The new $6.5 million Galbreath Equine Center is nearing 
completion and will be fully occupied by mid-October. It is an 
addition to the west side of the Veterinary Hospital and will 
serve both treatment and research needs.

     A $3.3 million project to upgrade and renovate Mershon 
Auditorium is under way, as is a $1.5 million upgrade and 
renovation of some administrative offices on the first floor of 
Bricker Hall.

     A $6.7 million expansion project at the University Hospitals 
Emergency Department will alleviate crowding there and provide a 
second-level bridge between Rhodes Hall and the University 
Hospitals Clinic Building, both of which are on 10th Avenue in 
the Medical Center. Also in the Medical Center, the Prior Health 
Science Library will reopen in October, after an $8.5 million 
remodeling. The library's temporary home, the Jesse Owens 
Recreation Center South, will close in October to prepare it for 
restoration as a student recreation facility once more.

     The Neil-17th Building has been closed for demolition, and 
McPherson Laboratory on 18th Avenue west of College Road has been 
closed in preparation for the early 1997 beginning of a $20 
million rehabilitation project in that building. Chemistry 
laboratories in Koffolt and Fontana laboratories recently have 
been upgraded. Other classroom improvements recently have been 
completed in 100 Ives Hall and 113 Dreese Laboratories.

     A $7.4 million Library Classroom building on the Marion 
campus will be dedicated soon. At the Ohio Agricultural Research 
and Development Center at Wooster, construction will begin soon 
for a $2.9 million Poultry Science research building.

     Groundbreaking has taken place for the $7.2 million 
Agricultural Technical Institute/OARDC Apartment Village at 
Wooster, with the start of construction anticipated in mid-
October. This project will provide housing for 226 and will make 
programs in Wooster available for more people requiring 
residential facilities near ATI and OARDC. The apartment village 
is expected to be ready for use in the 1997-98 academic year.

     Finally, more than $2 million in improvements are in the 
planning stages to bring restrooms and lecture halls in numerous 
buildings around campus into compliance with the Americans with 
Disabilities Act.

                             #

Contact: Dave Bhaerman, University Communications,
         (614) 292-8422.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 16 Sep 1996 12:58:03 -0400]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.