With $75 million in donations secured for construction of the University's new multi-purpose arena, early site work will begin today, ushering in over three years of construction around Grounds in support of the massive project.
Some fencing already was erected Saturday at the North end of the Massie Road parking lot, where the majority of early site work will commence, Arena Project Director Richard B. Laurance said.
Today, additional fencing will be erected at the main Massie road site, as well in the Dell area, opposite the Central Grounds parking garage. The dell area construction of retention ponds will allow for stormwater entering the dell to be retained and cleansed there instead of traveling through drainage pipes to its current final destination, the site of the future arena.
Other preliminary work at the Massie Road site will include creating a temporary road for construction site access and putting in underground utilities, an electric duct bank and forming foundation walls.
Major construction activities will start around the first week of August, Laurance said.
"That's when you see all the heavy machinery going up," he said. "All this prep work that we're doing now is just getting ready for that to start."
Observers should see the arena's basic structure begin to take shape in 2004 and 2005, with the installation of structural steel and roof trusses.
"That's when we really get rolling," Laurance said.
Major construction work will require shifting cars from the parking lot that serves as the arena's future home.
As of Friday night, Parking and Transportation officials already have shifted 281 cars to the South University Hall parking areas, Laurance said.
After the first week of May, another 100 or 200 cars will be shifted away from the arena site, and then, following graduation, all cars will be removed from the Massie Road lot and construction will take place.
A dearth of parking space should not result from arena construction, Construction Services Manager C.A. "Sack" Johannesmeyer said.
"Ultimately, the disturbance of parking will be offset by the Emmet Street parking garage," Johannesmeyer said. "That's why the University was rather anxious to get the garage" construction started.
Project planners, however, will still save space for about 250 parking spaces near the arena construction site in case the Emmet Street garage is not ready when students return for next year, Laurance said.
William H. Goodwin Jr., Board of Visitors finance committee chair, pledged $5 million to the arena and said he is glad construction finally will begin.
"I think it's wonderful," Goodwin said. "That's the reason I did it."
An official groundbreaking ceremony for the project currently is scheduled for May 30.
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