Construction Activity Report 2/11/08
To All Members of the Rutgers Law Community:
The construction/renovation project is approaching some important milestones which should prove to be both exciting and sometimes challenging for the law school community. Summarized below are the major upcoming activities and their likely impact on the work/study environment.
1. The old (aka "west") building is being completely retrofitted with a sprinkler system. One phase of the project involves extending branches from the main water line in the south stair tower (located behind classrooms 103 and 204) to various locations on the basement, first, second, and third levels. Because much of this activity will be noisy and in high-traffic areas, arrangements have been made for the job to be accomplished on the 11pm - 7am workshift, commencing February 11 and lasting approximately two weeks. There will be exposed ceiling in some locations for a while and a small section of the ceiling in the first-floor lobby will be cut open and remain exposed until further renovations are completed in Summer 2008. There may be other locations where piping at the ceiling level will be temporarily visible.
2. As you all know, the area separating the library bridge from the west building has been in a state of partial renovation for several months. The contractor is presently working on the new library main entrance and circulation desk located on the other side of the temporary partitions in this area. The spaces, however, must be joined and eventually opened. Another step in the renovation process is to install the new suspended ceiling and complete the permanent walls. Again, because this is noisy work in a high-traffic area, it has been scheduled for the 11pm - 7am shift and should commence during the week of February 18.
3. Many students probably have heard informally that the law school would occupy the new (aka "east") building over Spring Break. This is official confirmation that delays in the construction project have pushed back the move-in date from Spring Break to later in April. The contractor now expects to provide a Certificate of Occupancy on April 16. Because renovations in the west building cannot start until certain spaces here are first vacated, Dean Solomon has committed to immediately occupying the east building upon CO delivery. The move-in process will occur in stages commencing on Thursday, April 17 and should conclude on or about April 25.
The moving process will impact daily as well as end-of-semester routines. Faculty and staff will be packing and unpacking office contents. Computer equipment will be unavailable for the short transition periods to new locations. There will be elevator-traffic congestion. In short, the month of April will be a challenging time for the community, but the outcome will be a dramatically improved work/study environment for everyone associated with the law school.
4. The current temporary Library Reserve Room must be vacated on April 24-25. Reserve materials will be moved to another temporary storage location on the 5th floor until the new Circulation Desk/Reserve Room opens on Monday, May 5. (Note: the library's 5th floor will be locked during this period of temporary storage and will remain inaccessible to patrons until additional renovations are completed in the former Law Journal complex. For information regarding access to materials, check with the Library staff.)
5. As mentioned above, renovations to the west building will begin almost simultaneous with occupancy of the east building. The first affected areas will be the former 4th and 5th floor faculty offices. These spaces will be demolished and renovated to accommodate shelving stacks for library volumes which will later be moved from other areas of the collection. The demolition activity will be noisy, disruptive, and it will occur during the S08 reading and exam periods (April 22-May 9). Consequently, arrangements are being made to accomplish the work on the 11pm - 7am shift. But please be advised that, effective Monday, May 12, the continuing demolition activity will be performed on the day shift. The work will be completed on or about May 23. West building occupants should expect noise and disruptions during this period.
6. During the reading and exam periods, building hours will again be extended until 2 am. Because there will be disruptions from the third-shift demolition activity in the west building, both the first-floor classrooms in the east building as well as the new lounge on the 5th Street Bridge will be available for study purposes after the library closes at midnight.
7. Dean Solomon wishes to remind the Class of 2008 of his hope that their forbearance during the months of construction noise and disruption would be rewarded with an opportunity to appreciate the new building before leaving Rutgers-Camden. To that end, the Dean and his staff are working on plans to host some graduation-related activities in the new building. Watch for upcoming e-mail announcements.
8. East building classrooms are being scheduled for use during Summer Session 2008 which commences on Tuesday, May 27.
9. Construction activity updates will appear more frequently during the renovation phase of the project, because work activity will have a greater impact on daily routines. Please watch for these future announcements.
John Podolski
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