Detours, Dust and Disruptions: Construction in the Commons

By Julia Wojcik

Constant construction at the Commons is complicating residents' daily routines, with morning work crews, limited access and ongoing disruptions making ordinary tasks more difficult.

For junior studio composition major and Commons resident Lucy Webb, the early morning noise has become more than an inconvenience.

"We're an apartment full of musicians who record mostly on our home setups. It's pretty much impossible to record any quality audio most days," she says. "It's quite irritating. Every weekday now starts promptly at 7 a.m. with the sound of large machinery moving in and folks on the job site yelling at one another."

Construction and machinery outside the Commons residents' dorms. (Photo by Julia Wojcik)

That noise is not the only thing that is negatively impacting the students. Junior psychology major and student orientation leader Jorden Becerril described his experience navigating through the constant construction. 

"The roads by the Commons parking lots were closed off, making it inconvenient to walk around and get to where I needed to be for training since they would close it off without warning," he said.

Blocked off pathways and parking at the Commons. (Photo by Julia Wojcik)

The construction was already underway when students began to move into the dorms for the fall semester, making move-in extremely difficult for families. 

One parent, returning to campus to help his daughter move in, found that the construction blocked nearby parking, adding an extra challenge to transporting belongings from the car to the building's second floor.

"There was construction all around, making it difficult to transport all our stuff to the actual dorm," said Micheal Chan, whose daughter is a sophomore dance major. "There was a lot of running around back to the car, carrying luggage up the stairs and to the actual dorm room. The inside of the dorm rooms were also not well ventilated, which caused me to sweat through my only shirt, causing me to buy one from the Market. It was not a fun experience."

Some students could not access their dorm rooms at all. "There was still extensive construction going on to the point where I was unable to access the front door of my apartment," said senior jazz studies major and one of the Commons resident assistants Dexter Pretnar. "All the interior sidewalks were torn up, and there were constant construction workers pouring concrete outside my window and front door. I had to put some items through the window when moving in due to this." 

Preparations for sidewalk construction and new roads being paved at the Commons. (Photo by Julia Wojcik)

The construction is expected to continue as it is only the third phase in a larger campus accessibility project. Handled by Capital Facilities Planning, it aims to install accessible pathways with ramps, improve the parking lots, and connect the main campus with new pathways stemming from the Commons' quad. 

"This current phase is scheduled to be completed next summer, with work continuing into the fall and spring semesters on the parking lot, as long as the weather cooperates with us," says Associate Director of Capital Facilities Planning Sean Connolly. "Temporary pathways will be provided with directional signage until the new pathways are completed and opened. We're working with our Parking Department to try and get [parking] spaces as close as possible and have the contractor starting any loud or disruptive work later in the morning."

The Commons are being rebuilt with the future in mind. Until that happens, students will have to find their own way through the construction and come home to detours, dust and disruptions.