Campus Construction Update, March 15, 2021
Check out this week's Campus Construction Update to learn the latest updates on App State construction projects taking place across campus. In this episode, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Matt Dull chats with University Communications' Dave Blanks about the construction progress for Laurel Creek Residence Hall, as well as the early building stages of New River Hall, located on the site of the former Justice Hall.
Transcript
Dave Blanks: Hey folks, this is Dave Blanks from University Communications back once again with a Campus Construction Update and I'm joined by Matt Dull.
Matt Dull: Hey, Dave, how are you?
Dave Blanks: I'm doing pretty well, ready for some updates.
Matt Dull: We can start with Laurel Creek. Third building in the project, and we've been trying to keep folks updated on that, on a couple of things going on. Exterior of the building, that masonry work is wrapped around that street side of the building and moving more into that courtyard. So that is continuing nicely. Man, the weather we've had the past week or two has been amazing. Dry, it's been moderate temperatures; actually pretty darn nice temperatures up into the upper 50s and 60s. So, I'll take it for middle of March and early March. In Boone, North Carolina, this is pretty amazing. Masonry work, continuing on Laurel Creek Hall; that'll continue for another month and a half or so. I'm thinking as we break into the real heart of spring for up here, that May time frame, we'll really have that complete exterior of the building. And most of the interior will probably have wrapped up in that May, early June time frame. And then a lot of that focus is going to be all of the site work and landscaping, getting all those last little touches. Once you get all the heavy equipment out of there, and you don't need the scaffolding to put up the bricks and you don't need delivery trucks and all that all over the place. Your roof is fully on and all your mechanical equipment is done. Now that would be the time. So, just in time as we enter into the real growth season in May, we'll really be ... it'll line up with the project nicely. So moving forward with masonry, staying on schedule, and that's going to help us continue to that exterior work in the building and keep that critical path humming along so we can be ready for our fall opening for Laurel Creek.
Dave Blanks: Absolutely. What's the delivery estimate?
Matt Dull: The contract date, the date we've said is the drop dead date is August 2nd. Now of course we'll be in the building earlier than that. We've got furniture that needs to go into the building. We've got the office for the RA and RD in the building that get set up and all the student furnishings — all that has to be in and in place by that August 2nd deadline. Just because we start moving students in that second week of August. We also have all of our staff, our residence assistants, our RAs, they will be moving in that building, usually that first week of August. So everything's going to be ready. It's not just that the keys get turned over, but that the whole building is furnished and it's move-in ready for our students on the 2nd of August. So, I think we're in good shape there as we go through the building, and we've talked a little bit about in the past, we're actually going to try to do our punch lists by floor in the building as we go along. So try to get one whole wing, a floor on a wing done, do the punch list, get everything ready to go, then lock the units, and basically lock up that wing of the building. So it's really ready for students to go in there. That first wing, we're talking about, that east wing, we've been talking about that, was the head of the first wing in the series at the top. Probably mid-April we'll be talking about doing our punch list for that top floor in mid-April. Every week after that or so another floor will be added to the punch list. That way we're not scrambling at the end of the day, trying to do punch list stuff all over the building. Once you get all your mechanical systems active in the building, then we're talking about more tweaks to those systems versus, "Oh gosh, there's some missing paint on this drywall in this one room." That's the stuff we'd like to get done now, in April, and not be worrying about all the little touch-up paint jobs and ... oops, a piece of carpet's missing here, that kind of stuff. We don't want to be doing that as students are trying to move in. So, we want to get that behind us. So the team's really working hard to do that punch list as we go week by week. So, when we get to the end, it's really the last little finishing touches as we get to the July time frame.
Dave Blanks: You want to head across the road?
Matt Dull: Yeah. We'll head across the road. New River Hall — things are moving quick there, installing the water main this week. Basically trenching and putting in the conduit for New River Light and Power, for pulling power to the site. Now, there's no building to connect that permanent power to yet, but you got to do all of the underground work before you start doing the vertical construction because you don't want to constantly go in and tearing up things. So, the New River Light and Power and the main domestic water line will be installed this week and into next week. We are continuing to fabricate that new steam line, now working within that vault. We talked about the vault a couple of weeks ago. That's created for that connection point between our steam system and the building, the fabrication within that vault is happening this week. Let's see ... continuing to pour those concrete walls and wall footers and spread footings, and really trying to get all of the foundation work done for that building. I think we mentioned in the last podcast, "Hey, where like just a week or two away from that vertical construction." And we're hoping to get that off the ground, if you will, this week. So we are really starting to see that construction of, I think the first two CMU cinder block stair towers will be starting the latter half of this week, into early next week. So again, that's really when people will really start to see some real structure. So it's starting to look different and then again, once those CMU towers get put in and we'll put in the staircases there, it is just ... framing's going to be right after that. So all of a sudden it is just going to explode with work of vertical construction, and I'm just projecting ahead probably another month. Right now we have probably about 50 or 60 people on-site every day, doing a lot of the site work. We'll probably be catapulting to more of the 120 to 150 people here within the next month or so, month and a half, as you move into framing activities, because then you really just, it's all of the trades start getting activated and on-site. And it's not just your folks doing the site grading and not just concrete work. You really will start to see a lot of activities going on and a lot more people. So yeah, we could probably expect to have about 150 people on-site every day in the next month and a half to two months.
Dave Blanks: And final delivery date since we did it for Laurel Creek, what's New River's final delivery?
Matt Dull: It's that August 1, August 2 for 2022.
Dave Blanks: OK.
Matt Dull: So same time frame. Usually it's that first business day in August has been our traditional delivery date, just so that we can move in RAs that day or a little bit later that week. That hall staff is that first group. And then they're there for about a week before our general population students start to move in.
Dave Blanks: Right. I'm feeling confident. Feeling confident.
Matt Dull: Yeah. Absolutely.
Dave Blanks: I've had nothing to do with it, but I'm feeling confident about it. Well, Matt, thanks for your time today. I appreciate the information and we'll do it again.
Matt Dull: Absolutely. Thanks, Dave.
