University of Colorado at Boulder students started the fall semester this week with three new buildings under construction and the completion of a $3.3 million campus improvement project.
Since last October, work crews have refurbished 43 entryways to campus buildings, installed new carpet in 93 classrooms and Norlin Library study areas, applied new asphalt on many campus streets and replaced sidewalks, university officials said.
A number of classrooms also were upgraded with new projectors, chalkboards, chairs, tables, ceiling fans, fixed seating and wall finishings.
Meanwhile, construction continues on three building projects: the $44.3 million law school, the $29.9 million ATLAS Center and the $12 million, 45,000-square-foot addition to the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Space Technology Building.
The addition to the LASP building is on schedule to be completed in November while the other buildings should be ready next summer, said Steven Thweatt, campus architect and director of planning design and construction for CU-Boulder's Department of Facilities Management.
"It has been some time since we have had three major projects under construction on the main campus at the same time and this can lead to some unique challenges that the campus does not often face," Thweatt said.
"For example, the amount of traffic for material deliveries is quite large and burdensome and can create difficulties with traffic disruptions, congestion and pedestrian conflicts," he said. "These disruptive aspects of construction make it difficult to build facilities on an academic campus, but the CU-Boulder campus community has been extremely good about dealing with all of these issues."
At 178,000 square feet, the new law building is the largest of the three projects. The five-story building will feature a law library, teaching courtroom, moot courtroom, student program space, clinics, law centers, classrooms, offices and a café.
The 66,000-square-foot ATLAS Center, part of the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society Institute, is being built in the heart of campus near the corner of 18th Street and Colorado Avenue. The state-of-the-art multimedia facility will include a performance studio, a production studio, audio and video control rooms, distance learning and videoconferencing rooms, an exhibition lobby, active screening room, auditorium, classrooms, conference rooms and office space.