The construction continues on campus, and some buildings have been completed while others are nearing completion.
Also, many of the thoroughfares of campus have been shifted, remodeled or blocked completely.
At the beginning of August, the Barnes & Noble Bookstore opened in the Cullis Wade Depot.
The location in The Union had several limitations, mainly space available and accessibility.
The larger space in the new building allows the bookstore to offer more merchandise, said Deadric Williams, a sociology graduate student who worked in The Union bookstore and now works in Barnes & Noble.
“We have more of a variety in textbooks, trade books and general merchandise,” he said. “People stay longer due to the fact that we have a sitting area.”
The regular crowd frequenting the bookstore has more than doubled since the new building opened, Williams said.
“It [also] makes my job easier, and I have more customers,” he said.
The Junction, the bricked sidewalk and grassy area in front of Davis Wade Stadium, was also completed over the summer.
“It’s a place where family, students, faculty and everybody can come out and enjoy the university,” director of facilities management Jim Jones said.
Junction Jane and John, two trailers that act as portable restroom facilities, have been opened on The Junction near Dorman Hall.
“We’ve opened them up and are going to leave them open through the first football game to make sure we can operate them properly,” Jones said.
Junction Jane and John will open before each home football game and close soon after the game until the next home game, he added.
During the first week of August, the university completed a project laying down brick walkways running from the bookstore to the beginning of Lee Boulevard and Tracy Drive next to Lloyd-Ricks building and will complete a brick sidewalk on the Drill Field, Jones said.
The sidewalks are 60 to 75 percent complete and have been specified to meet requirements set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tree roots and continuous wear left the sidewalks cracked and damaged, and the university hopes to complete the project by the end of August.
The university has completed 35 percent of the McCool Hall renovation, and faculty and staff have moved back into all three floors of the building. Construction continues on the 52,000-square-foot addition to McCool, Jones said.
The university hopes to complete the extension of the Lee Hall auditorium by the first week of September.
The Agricultural and Biological Engineering project, being built near Dorman Hall, began in early April and should be finished by June 2007.
Colvard Student Union renovation began this summer. The first will be completed in August 2007, and the second and third floors should be finished by December 2007, he said.
Griffis and Hearst, two new residence halls located by Ruby Hall, opened Aug. 10.
“The work is ongoing because there is so much to be done,” Jones said.
There is still some work being done to the exterior of the building, but also other work such as finishing minor electrical work, he said.
Some roads, including Stone Boulevard, have been reopened, and the traffic situation on campus is improving, Jones said. Getting around last year was a difficult experience.
Some students feel that construction has caused the campus to spread out.
“It’s a little inconvenient,” freshman pre-engineering major Tom Farragut said.
The main problem is that buildings like the bookstore are far from the center of campus, Farragut said.
The university understands the inconvenience these projects cause, but facilities management asks the students to remain patient during the construction processes, he said.
“All the patience and understanding that we got out of the student body last year really helped us complete the projects on deadline,” Jones said.