UC Santa Cruz is currently fostering over thirty construction projects, ranging from the installation of five additional emergency blue light call boxes to the development of the new Biomedical Facility. To ease the minds of the curious, the most relevant and visually obvious construction sites have been detailed
Biomedical Facility
The debate over the 1.5-acre of land on Science Hill for the construction of the Biomedical Facility ended on December 13, 2008 when the tree-sitters vacated the premises and allowed construction to commence. Construction preparations have begun on the site on Science Hill, such as the implementation of a fence stretching around the designated area.
On Science Hill, the trees are currently undergoing trimming and removal. A total of 48 redwoods have been cut, in addition to eleven oak trees. There has been a two-year time period allotted for the completion of the project.
Porter House B
Porter College currently stands at one-half its stature since House B, the dorms adjacent to the Porter/Kresge dining hall, is under construction. At the cost of $28 million, renovations include the remodeling of bathrooms, an addition of a sixth floor, as well as necessary seismic corrections to compensate for structural inadequacies.
Due to this construction, Porter College reduced its residences by one-half for the 2008-2009 school year, and the university distributed the students equally throughout the other nine colleges.
The date of completion for Porter House B is set for September 2009. Beginning March 21, 2009, the Hungry Slug Café, the Porter/Kresge dining hall and the Fireside Lounge will be closed for renovations.
Cowell/Stevenson Dining Hall
Freshmen at Cowell and Stevenson Colleges have one less thing to mull over during their freshman year: gaining the “freshman fifteen.” As the Cowell/Stevenson dining hall has been closed since the opening of the school year, residences of these two colleges routinely make the trek up Cardiac Hill to Crown/Merrill, as their closest alternative.
The estimated cost of these renovations is $11 million, providing for substantial changes to the atmosphere of the dining hall, ranging from the addition of made-to-order stations to necessary seismic updates.
“What I was last told is that April 2nd is being called the ‘beneficial occupancy day,'” said Jim Carter, Cowell/Stevenson administrative officer. “All the safety measures will have been met, and the building will be turned over to the university.”
McHenry Library
McHenry Library is currently in its second and final remodeling phase, which is expected to be fully complete in April 2009. The first phase, which began in fall of 2005, added 81,600 square feet to the existing structure, whereas the second phase is focused on the remodeling and polishing of the current library.
The second phase consists of the seismic corrections that must be made to the foundation of the building, as seen beside the temporary bridge en route to the library. Additions to the library include glass-encased study areas, electronic collections, terraced reading gardens and many other additions.
Cowell Student Health Center
The Cowell Student Health Center is undergoing both a renovation and an addition. The current structure will be seismically renovated with retrofitted walls as a safeguard against possible earthquake damage. The expansion will increase the size of the health center by 30 percent.
“The projected date of completion is Fall 2009, and so far we are on track,” said Josephine Ortega, the Student Health Center Project manager.
A few of the Health Center’s programs have been relocated during the construction, such as the Student Health and Outreach Program (SHOP), which has been temporarily moved to Kresge College room 157. The Rape Prevention Education Program moved close by to Kresge College room 153.
Ranch View Terrace Project
The Ranch View Terrace Project will provide UCSC faculty with on campus housing, at a more affordable price than the majority of houses in Santa Cruz. The first phase of the Ranch View Terrace was completed in Spring 2008, which included the completion of 45 homes out of the 84 homes that will be built in the southwest corner of campus, adjacent to the Arboretum.
Houses are available with either three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, or four bedrooms and three bathrooms, ranging from $500,000 to $600,000. “The first five just closed escrow and five to eight will be closing escrow every few weeks until all units are sold,” said Steve Hauser, the UCSC staff housing manager.
