One residence hall went down over the break while another went up.
Both Ruby Hall and Hamlin Hall are in various stages of construction-or deconstruction.
About half of 39-year-old Hamlin Hall has been demolished, and the partial frame for Ruby Hall is visible between Suttle Hall and the Sanderson Center. It will be the first dorm built on campus in 36 years.
Hamlin is being demolished to make room for a future structure. Whether that structure will be a new residence hall, classroom facility, parking lot or road site is still undecided.
“We started demolition on the 16th of December, right before the university closed, and we should be finished sometime this month,” director of housing and residence life Ann Bailey said.
Fred Mock, assistant director for facilities and maintenance, said that the demolition will be complete by the end of the month, but the rubble pile left over will need to be cleaned up, which he said may take until the end of March to complete.
Mock added that grading, leveling and seeding of the ground will be necessary after the area has been completely cleaned up.
Meanwhile, Ruby Hall, which was nothing more than a site of dirt last semester, has started showing signs of formation. During the holiday break, roughly 20 percent of the residence hall’s construction was completed. Contractors finished assembling all of the underground plumbing and electrical systems, concrete pads were poured to complete the foundation, wall panels were constructed on the west side of the building, stairwells started to go up on the northwest corner of the building and steel beams went up over what will be the southwest lobby.
The only time workers were not on campus constructing Ruby Hall during the break was on Sundays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Mock said. They experienced one minor weather delay during that time. Mock said the weather was too cold to pour concrete one day, but other work on the facility still persisted that day.
Jim Smith, construction administrator for Luke and Kaye Architects, said that the construction of Ruby Hall is already about 30 percent finished.
“Everything is right on schedule, and we will be finished on Aug. 1,” Smith said.
Now the department is working with different vendors to decide on what furniture will be put in the new residence hall.
“[Ruby Hall] is a big building, and that’s a lot of furniture to buy, so we’re looking at different furniture from different vendors right now,” Mock said.
A model room is expected to be setup within three weeks to assist in choosing the right furniture.
“We’re going to build a white metal building behind Suttle Hall, and in that building we’re going to build a complete Ruby Hall room model. Everything will be set up for the furniture vendors to come in and set up [their furniture] to see what it will look like,” Mock said.
Smith said aspects such as landscaping and foundation work around Ruby Hall are also in progress.
“We’re actually working on landscaping, putting down walks and drives right now, along with developing Phase II,” Smith said.
Plans for Phase II, which is the developmental name for MSU’s next residence hall, are in the conceptual state, Smith said.
Construction is not officially set for Phase II, but it is expected to begin sometime during the middle of this year.