Olivia Love
Staff Writer
Walking around campus, you may notice a couple of construction projects going on. Two in particular include the renovations going on at Bud Davis Field and the ongoing project behind the Rendezvous building.
The construction in front of Davis Field is mainly a rehab project. The Idaho State Facilities Services department is working to revamp the front entrance of the field to make it more cosmetically appealing and to make it safer.
“We had some ticket booths that were collapsing in on themselves and had not been used for many years,” said Jason Adams, project manager in charge of the two undertakings. “We removed the ticket booths and there was actually some asbestos and lead abatement that we had to do prior to removing them.”
Additionally, construction crews will refurbish the walls and gates. They are re-stuccoing the walls and repainting the gates along with repairing the latches on them. This project should not last more than two weeks, according to Adams.
As of now, the construction has had little to no effect on the athletes using the field. However, some repairs scheduled on the inside of Davis Field could potentially have an impact later on.
The track that circles the field is old and in dire need of renovation. Athletes have expressed concern that, in its current state, the track does not meet NCAA regulations, which is why ISU is unable to host track and field events.
“As of this moment, we are looking at projects to repair and renovate the bleacher and the track,” Adams said. “We are looking into costs and projects there but we haven’t started anything yet.”
Possibly, a more known project is the work that has been going on for some time behind the Rendezvous Building. All the construction is under one project but there are two sites to that project – one immediately next to Rendezvous and one up by Red Hill.
“They’re both ADA projects,” Adams said. “It is a project to get from Red Hill road down to Cadet Field and lower campus, and to also get access to the Red Hill building.”
Though the project began last summer, it remains unfinished. Students have taken notice in the delay of the projects and they are not very happy about it.
“It’s super annoying but construction is construction,” said Kirk Long who lives near the construction site in South Complex. “I’m not sure if there is a way for it not to be annoying. At one point, they had this generator running and no one could sleep.”
Students living in the Rendezvous building and South Complex have had the inconvenience of waking up to the workers operating machinery for a majority of the year and many are confused as to why the project is taking so much time.
“With the way the building is structured, the sound echoes in the back of the wings,” said Rachel Godin who lives in Rendezvous. “My room is in a place where I can hear all the noise coming from the construction and I’ve woken up to it several times.”
Rumors circulated that constructions crews built the wheelchair ramps incorrectly and had to rip them up and rebuild them several times over the course of the year. Students are upset and frustrated because sloppy workmanship is wasting their tuition, along with other money given to the university.
“We had some installation issues with the contractor over the winter,” Adams said. “We did have to take out some of the ramp because it didn’t meet the ADA standards.”
Initially scheduled for completion in the fall semester, the work is scheduled to be finished in April.
The workers are completing final touches such as landscaping and finishing the handrail on the ramp. As soon as those projects are complete, the ramp will open for public use.
“There’s always pain with construction and we’re making improvements to the campus,” Adams said. “We just hope the students can bear with us.”
