Inconvenience of construction herds students through detours

Published: Tuesday, September 30, 1997

Tuesday, September 30, 1997

CONSTRUCTION: Officials say the new buildings, better facilities are integral part of UCLA's growth

By Dawnya Pring

Daily Bruin Contributor

Another year, another annoying detour. Welcome to the never-ending story of campus construction. You arrive bright and early for your first day of classes, only to face pedestrian traffic jams, be corralled into tiny fenced pathways and herded through narrow temporary corridors.

When will it all end? Realistically, never. And believe it or not, most, if not all, university officials say that this is the way it should be.

According to campus leaders, UCLA should always remain in a state of construction and planning flux. New buildings and new facilities mean new research and new academic and athletic programs. This also means that the best faculty, students and staff will want to come to UCLA.

Construction is a tell-tale sign of a growing campus. The world of academia is highly competitive, officials feel, and the ever-evolving campus is an integral part of any university's survival.

UCLA's constant metamorphosis takes on added difficulty because of California's earthquakes and the lack of land in an urban location.

"We are not in a rural community. We can't decide to just build a parking structure on the back 40," says Duke Oakely, assistant vice chancellor of Capitol Programs, design and construction. Campus designers face a dilemma: the physical limitations of campus vs. program needs.

Campus planners must constantly try to envision the future. Part of their challenge is having to keep up with the changing climate of university life.

"UCLA is committed to keeping pace with the ever-evolving capitol needs of the campus community," said Oakely. "Capitol Programs continually assesses how to best maintain the vast, existing campus infrastructure and plan for future needs."

There are several massive construction projects in the works, each one in a different stage of development. The Tom Bradley International Student Center, the expansion of the Morgan Center, the new hospital and medical research facilities, north and west additions to the Wooden Center, seismic renovation of the Men's Gym and Haines Hall, and the two phase expansion of underground parking at Lot 4 ...

When much of the work is complete, the campus community will enjoy a smoother traffic flow, expanded recreational facilities, several acres of restored and newly landscaped areas, as well as improved seismic safety. But most of these projects are still in their initial phases, and some haven't even gotten off the drawing board.

Excavation has already begun for the first of the two-phase expansion of underground parking Lot 4 at the Wooden Center. The first phase will occur below the soccer field and the second phase under Janss Plaza.

Because building an underground parking lot means digging a huge hole in the ground, the speed at which this project is completed depends greatly on the weather.

In the end, this parking structure will create 1,300 parking spaces near the heart of campus, but will only be replacing parking spaces from the soon-to-be extinct Lot 14. That lot will be destroyed to make room for the new hospital and medical research center.

The much-anticipated hospital and medical research center, a billion-dollar project designed by world renowned architect I.M. Pei, is still in the initial fund-raising and design stages and won't be started for at least a year.

Later this fall, work will begin on the north and west additions to the Wooden Center. These two additions will temporarily house occupants of the Men's Gym and Haines Hall, much as the Plaza building acted as temporary housing for many student services and the bookstore during the remodeling of Ackerman Union.

When the seismic renovations are finished on the Men's Gym and Haines, many of the programs will go back to their original spaces and the Wooden Center will be left with new locker, shower and classroom facilities for both men and women. Those renovations are are due to start in 1999.

The Tom Bradley International Student Center is set to be completed near the end of this year and will consolidate many international student services that are scattered around campus. It will also house new facilities for UCLA Catering and an international cafe where both native and international students can congregate.

Capitol Programs has tried to anticipate the angst and frustration of the campus community that accompanies such intense levels of construction by implementing some measures.

"Our priority is to keep disruption to a minimum," said Mary G. Anderson, assistant director of design and contraction for Capitol Programs. "But major construction will be taking place in a dense area under a very tight deadline with little flexibility. So there will be some inevitable inconveniences."

For the Lot 4 project, one of the most imminent and massive projects, construction trucks will enter the site at Westwood Plaza through the Sunset Boulevard entrance. A temporary access road and entrance ramp to level B of Lot 4 has been constructed from Circle Drive North, replacing the present Westwood Plaza ramp entrance.

All the construction action and updates will arrive via e-mail to representatives of all campus constituencies in the aptly named Daily Construction Impacts Reports, courtesy of Capitol Programs.

Throughout the year in the ever-changing campus landscape, fences will be relocated as projects proceed. Access to adjacent buildings will be maintained at key entrances throughout construction. Pedestrian pathways and access routes for people with disabilities will be marked, and flagpersons and crossing guards will ensure safety.

What do these safety and convenience precautions mean for the student? That they will nevertheless be heading off to class to the constant drone of a jack hammer.