Construction Zone: Nearly Complete!

Over the summer while most students were away and not taking classes, Miami Hamilton took on several construction projects to improve the function and appeal of campus. This seems to be a recurring theme for summers and it makes sense; get the construction (or as much as possible) taken care of and inconvenience the fewest number of students possible while we're at it.  Two summers ago, we took on the Mosler-Rentschler Patio, and last summer we completely renovated the 2nd Floor of Rentschler Hall. This summer, we focused on parking lots.

For those of you who have been here a while, you know that parking has probably been the biggest complaint about campus, especially the first few weeks of class.  I've heard horror stories of people circling the lot for a half hour with not a single, solitary parking spot open, people parking in the grass, running late for class, etc.  Clearly, it was time for an upgrade!

The first change this summer was the main student lot.  We used to have a bit of a drainage problem.  You might remember the small lakes that would appear faithfully with each rain.  We have re-paved and made some fancy elevation adjustments to remedy this problem.  Then we added four rows to the west end of the lot, which gave us another 230 parking spots. 

We also converted the old curbside faculty & staff parking in the main lot to Disability Parking, and added ramps to make it more convenient as well.  The faculty & staff spots got moved to the first few spots of each row.

Across the street from Rentschler, we resurfaced and re-striped the "Recreation Park" lot, and added on 140 spots and a new entrance.

The last parking-related change over the summer was the reconfiguring the half-circle drive in front of Rentschler into a dropoff/pickup zone.  This project was intended to ease congestion and improve safety for Campus Kids, the childcare center on campus.  It also added eight handicap parking spaces. 

New lighting poles are also being installed soon in all of the parking lots.  

In additional to the parking lot projects, we upgraded faculty office space and classrooms on the third and fifth floors of Mosler Hall, and renovated the IT services area as well. All of Mosler Hall got ceiling renovations, in installments.  The IT services area is my favorite - it looks so modern, open and inviting. 

Lastly, 307 Phelps has been converted to a true theater classroom.  The ceiling was removed in order to install a grid system for theater lights and a new sounds system is on the way.  It's kind of like a small black box theater.  I can't wait to see what kind of shows and programs our new "Studio 307" produces!

So that's about it.  I think the Physical Facilities Department and contractors did an outstanding job on finishing everything on time (just barely). They haven't yet released what they're planning to work on next summer.  I personally hope they choose a bigger Student Activities office, but that's just me.  What about you? What improvements would you recommend for next year?  What do you think about the latest upgrades?