NC State has scheduled a large number of construction projects for this upcoming year. These projects range from small-scale infrastructure and maintenance work to the construction of completely new buildings that will house entire departments. Ultimately, all of this work is to improve the efficiency and reliability of the university’s divisions and facilities, while also improving the campus experience for faculty and students.
Capital Project Management is a department of the facilities division. The organization is in charge of overseeing the majority of infrastructure and construction projects. According to Cameron Smith, senior director of Capital Project Management, the department handles all capital design, construction and budgeting.
The upcoming year will see the beginning of multiple new projects on both Main and Centennial Campus. One of the largest construction transitions will be the beginning of construction for the Engineering Building Oval on Centennial Campus. The build is one of the two projects funded by Connect NC Bond, a bond that finances capital and infrastructure improvements on UNC campuses.
“The Engineering Building Oval is going to be the new home for civil engineering, construction, environmental engineering department, the industrial engineering department and the dean’s office,” Smith said. “So we are essentially completing the move of the College of Engineering over to Centennial Campus.”
The Engineering Building Oval will be located between Hunt Library and Engineering Building I. Facilities is scheduled to break ground in April, with the construction projected to be completed during the summer of 2020.
Lauren Spell, a first-year studying biomedical engineering, is excited for the Centennial Campus changes to unify the engineering community.
“I think that it is really great that they are going to be able to move most of engineering to one campus because I think it will create a better center of community for all of the engineering majors,” Spell said.
Other projects scheduled for this year include an addition to Carmichael Gymnasium and Harris Hall renovations. The Carmichael Gym addition will begin this summer, and the addition will include new rooms and equipment. The project is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2020. The Harris Hall renovations have just begun and are scheduled for completion before the start of the fall semester.
“[It will provide] a one-stop shop student services space in Harris Hall so that students do not have to bounce around to get what they need,” Smith said.
With the high number of construction projects, potential inconveniences may arise during the year. Spell discussed how the construction projects may affect students like herself.
“They are probably going to be messy,” Spell said. “Hopefully, at the end of it we will see some great outcomes and that it will be worth it.”
In addition to the three large projects that are on the docket for this year, the university also has a number of smaller projects in the works, which include new bathrooms and offices in the basement of Patterson Hall, an ES King Village roof replacement and phase three infrastructure work in the Greek Village. According to Smith, students can expect to see all of these smaller projects begin in the later part of this year.
