Campus Construction Update, August 1, 2022

Associate Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations Matt Dull shares updates concerning construction projects on the west side of App State's campus, including the nearly complete, New River Hall.

Transcript

Dave Blanks:

All right, let's do this. What are we talking about? I don't know. Hey, folks, this is Dave Blanks: from University Communications, and we're still doing campus construction updates, Matt. Hello.

Matt Dull: Back in the studio.

Dave Blanks: We are we are back at it again. But there's not...we're running out of stuff to talk about because we've we've...Have we finished New River Hall now?

Matt Dull: Yeah. We are so close.

Dave Blanks: The grass is green out there. It's growing, it's beautiful. It looks really good. I can't I mean are we still punch-listing?

Matt Dull: Yeah. So you know, I mean, yeah, the fences are down, the sidewalks are done, the lights are in.

Dave Blanks: The paving y'all we're doing at the bottom is done.

Matt Dull: The little crosswalk over stadium is done.

Dave Blanks: Not as bad as I thought it would be.

Matt Dull: Not as bad.

Dave Blanks: All right. It's been all right. I did get my truck worked on, which, incidentally, perhaps that is part of the reason it's not so bad, but yet. Yeah.

Matt Dull: Landscaping is done. So really, I mean, on the outside of the building, there's a few little things. Like we had a little bit of a delay on getting the the doors on the trash dumpster corral. Metal was hard to get when it was time to put those in...the particular time we were looking for. And so those come in the week before students move in.

Matt Dull: But for the most part, everything's really kind of wrapped up on the outside. We do have some punch list back walk to do. We've had a punch list and the contractors have gone in and tried to resolve all the issues on the punch list. And we'll do a back walk late this week trying to get all that wrapped up and getting that done.

Matt Dull: We already have a certificate of occupancy for the building, and so that's that critical document that says, okay, that all the life safety things are good. It's a safe building to be in and people can be in the building, live in the building. So that critical milestone is checked off. So it really is just that punch list stuff that needs to just get resolved so that there's really no issues by the time students move in and a few weeks. The furniture is in the building already, which is awesome.

Matt Dull: So furniture is in and mattresses are in and yeah finishing up the last little bit here and there and we'll be finished up this week installing all the wireless routers throughout the building that's kind of that last step. With the IT equipment you don't really want a lot of dust and still having some active construction going on so that's usually the last thing you know, you've got all the wiring and everything really set up and then once you know that you're not going to be cutting a little hole in the drywall or something like that or repainting or whatever, then we're putting in all the last little bit of equipment.

Matt Dull: So wireless equipment's going in last week and this week, so that'll be ready for students to move in. So the building's ready for student move in in August. Cool.

Dave Blanks: So yeah, that's awesome. That's exciting. This has been part of our discussion in the campus construction update with you, Matt, but I did have a chance to park in the newest parking deck. The one that's on that side over there. The stadium deck. Yeah, it was, it was very accommodating. So it worked out. I was like, here's that thing that we've talked about.

Dave Blanks: It has been some time, let's, let's try parking in it. But yeah, I was going to an event at The End Zone building the Grand View. Isn't that what it's called?

Matt Dull: Yeah. The Grand View Ballroom in the North End Zone, facility.

Dave Blanks: Yeah. I went to an event there and yeah. Parked in the parking deck. So I was like, I got to tell Matt. There you go. I experienced this.

Matt Dull: Yeah, I really. I mean, being a truck driver, not like a big rig, but having a pickup truck. I really like that parking deck. Yeah, it is nice and roomy. When you're going up and down the levels, there's no cars. Trying to back out. Yeah.

Dave Blanks: That is nice.

Matt Dull: As, as a bigger vehicle driver, it is kind of nice to be in that deck.

Dave Blanks: Good spot, but we have no updates on the parking deck because it's been it's been completed for for quite some time.

Matt Dull: Yes. Several years.

Dave Blanks: It's been a while. What else do you want to talk about today, Matt?

Matt Dull: Yeah. Guess right next to the parking deck is Eggers and Bowie and Eggers and Bowie are coming down, which is. Yeah, that is moving along pretty quick. So all the abatement work, the hazardous material abatement for Bowie before we start taking it down, that is complete and the demolition is in progress so I mean Bowie is coming down.

Matt Dull: I don't know if we have pictures yet on the site, but I'm sure we'll have pictures on the feature site soon with some of that, some of those demo pictures or you know, as folks start coming up, we're getting close to the fall football season and that's when we have a lot of visitors on campus.

Matt Dull: So, I'm sure we'll look in some stage of demolition as folks start coming in for the fall football season. Right. Bowie is again coming down Eggers right next door. We are finishing up the abatement that's ongoing in that building throughout the next month or so and then we will be pulling that building down as well.

Matt Dull: So that will be a little bit slower process of pulling that building down. It's just it's really close to that stadium parking deck. So just have to be really careful and when pulling that down. Both of those should be wrapped up kind of in mid fall and then moving towards getting that site ready for turning it into another surface parking lot.

Dave Blanks: Awesome. Cool. Well, what we want is that all we're talking about today? I mean, we were talking about how like where do we go from here with the campus construction update? I may end up having to have some additional guests to talk about some of the other building that we that we have here at Appalachian.

Matt Dull: Yeah, this is really kind of wrapping up our big kind of five year project on residence halls.

Dave Blanks: Have we done this for five years, you and me?

Matt Dull: I think we've done it for maybe four or three.

Dave Blanks: Wow! Thirty four years!

Dave Blanks: Seems like only yesterday.

Matt Dull: Yeah, yeah. Starting from the very beginning of getting the documents and the planning part started in the fall of 2017. Wow. And then I think construction began I guess it would have been February of 2019, I think that's about when we started was in early 2019 or maybe late 2018.

Dave Blanks: I think a couple of things have happened now. Yeah, yeah. Well, what about the Child Development Center? I may have been talking about that.

Matt Dull: Is it is gearing up to open. We've got furniture in the building. We've got classrooms set up. They're getting ready to be inspected by local health department and state licensing. So that should really wrap everything up soon. The parking lot is complete and the playground area. The landscaping is getting finished up here in the next week or so and really moving away from construction activities and really moving towards occupancy and just operating the child care center school.

Matt Dull: We're moving towards being open for that first week of class and having the center full.

Dave Blanks: All right. Well,

Matt Dull: as always, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you and hopefully you'll be back again.

Matt Dull: Yeah! Maybe we could do a kind of final wrap up when all of this is actually occupied.

Dave Blanks: Yeah, I think we should do.

Matt Dull: Something around ribbon cuttings or something.

Dave Blanks: But for today. Thanks, Matt. I appreciate you.

Matt Dull: Absolutely. Thanks, Dave.