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Construction Around Campus

Contact:  Katie Ismael  
Katie_Ismael@redlands.edu
(909) 748-8387 (Phone)

August 19, 2008 -

Orange cones, temporary fencing and hardhat-wearing work crews will welcome new students and staff this fall, as the university continues to undergo more than $40 million in construction and renovation.

Some of the most visible work is being done at the Armacost Library, where the lower level is being completely renovated to give students new rooms for collaboration and learning. An Internet lounge, student study areas (a portion of which will be open 24 hours/7 days a week) and a coffee café are being added as part of the project. A new front entrance has been designed to give the building a modern look.

*During the construction, the library can be accessed through entrances on the east and west side.

The project will create a new space for the Fletcher-Jones Computer Center, which has moved from the lower level to a temporary home in a modular trailer on the lawn between the library and Lewis Hall.

*The general use lab and art lab are located in the Fletcher-Jones trailer and computer classrooms have been moved to Duke Hall. Forty new computers have also been added to the third and fourth floor of the library, and a collaborative learning space has been moved to the library's third floor.

The Armacost Library project is expected to be completed by Summer 2009.
Work on the new Center for the Arts, a project that will bring a consolidated, on-campus home for the arts and theatre arts, also is ongoing. A new two-story building to be built east of the Glenn Wallichs Theatre will provide classrooms, workshops, art studios and faculty offices for the Art Department. The Glenn Wallichs Theatre building also is being expanded and a new black box theatre constructed. The project, which is expected to be completed by Fall 2009, will bring 42,000 square-feet of new space for the art and theatre programs.

A second phase will bring additional art studios and office spaces, as well as a separate art gallery; the current Peppers Art Center will then be converted to other uses. Transforming the south end of campus, the project is expected to give state-of-the-art facilities for the art and theatre programs and provide a Center for the Arts for the campus, and community.

Over in Hunsaker Center, a renovation of the student services building has allowed the Multicultural Center, Women's Center and Pride Center to come together under one roof with the Office of Campus Diversity and Inclusion.

Although the construction can sometimes give the campus a maze-like feel, the projects represent the continuing transformation of the Redlands campus, allowing the university to better serve its students, while maintaining its forward momentum into the second century, university leaders say.