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Hall of Science construction resumes on CSULB’s tab

Workers have resumed construction on the Hall of Science after a three-month suspension that was a consequence of the state budget stalemate.

Over the next six months Cal State Long Beach will completely fund the construction of the Hall of Science, which will cost nearly $2 million a month, through paid student fees. The suspension of the building also entailed a fee.

“We don’t have a commitment from the state as to when we will be reimbursed for these costs so we are being very cautious about how we proceed,” said Mary Stephens, vice president for administration and finance.

Completion was previously set for sometime in 2010, but after the delay with state funds, construction will go on until May 2011. The Hall of Science will hold classes beginning fall 2011 with classrooms housing about two times the assignable seats than the Molecular and Life Sciences Center currently provides.

Along with 22 research labs, there will also be 31 offices for professors, some of who will finally get a new office after 40 years. The innovative building will also include the highly anticipated addition of a rooftop greenhouse and observatory.

“The contractor, Hunt Construction, has restarted the foundation work, waterproofing and basement wall construction,” said David Salazar, associate vice president of Physical Planning and Facilities Management, in a campus-wide e-mail.

Hunt Construction Group resumed work using a design-build plan, which allows the university to make changes to the design more easily, and requires the contractors to be more flexible.

“There should be minimal disruptions other than concrete trucks and pumps and soil excavation operations that will cause intermittent delays on East Campus Drive,” Salazar said.

“The move to the Hall of Science only serves as a minor inconvenience … There will absolutely be a benefit,” said Krzysztof Slowinski, an associate professor of chemistry. “Especially for the students and professors that have research labs that will be relocated.”
 

One Comment

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    Michael Yee

    Excellent. I found it quite odd that the construction for the Student Recreation Center was continuing on while Hall of Sciences had stopped. I always thought that we should use that money in some way to finish the science building, or something like that.

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