Last Friday, work began to remove 27th Street from Forest to Carpenter Avenue. As a result, the Law School Parking Lot (north of Opperman Library) will be closed beginning Sept. 26. The entrance to the parking lot and the drive leading to the Opperman loading dock will closed to faculty, staff, students, and visitors. The parking lot is scheduled to reopen mid-December.
— Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning and Management
The installation of the GeoPier foundation system will begin the week of March 28. Those buildings and occupants in the immediate surrounding areas will experience noise and possibly minimal vibration as a result of the compaction of the foundation material. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Drake Public Safety (515-271-222) to report the issue.
27th Street Closure
As part of STEM@DRAKE construction, 27th Street will close permanently today, March 14. No parking or thru traffic will be allowed; two handicap parking spaces at the south end of the west side of 27th Street (next to Opperman Hall) will remain open. Sidewalks along 27th Street will also be shut down. For an overview of closures, visit the Building STEM@DRAKE website.
Electrical Shutdowns This Week
Today, March 14, a scheduled electrical shutdown will occur from approximately 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The affected buildings include Olin, Bell Center, Fieldhouse, Fine Arts (North), The Knapp Center, and Shivers. This scheduled shutdown is a part of the electrical projects that need to be completed prior to the construction of the two buildings on the campus. The rain date for the shutdown is March 15.
On March 19 and March 20 an additional scheduled electrical shutdown will occur. Below is a list of the affected buildings and expected time of the power outage for each building:
March 19
March 20
Rain dates will need to be found later in the spring semester or early summer. If bad weather is predicted, we may start on March 18, depending on scheduled events. If a decision is made to start on March 18, all individuals in these buildings will be notified. If you have questions regarding these scheduled electrical shutdowns please contact Jolene Schmidt, director, operations and support services, at jolene.schmidt@drake.edu.
Temporary Sidewalk Closure
The sidewalk between Olin and Medbury will be closed March 14–18 to install a drainage pipe that crosses in that area. Users of this sidewalk will need to either walk south around Medbury or north along Forest Avenue and around Olin Hall. We understand this is an inconvenience, however we would like to take care of this work over spring break to minimize any disruption.
On March 14, a scheduled electrical shutdown will occur from approximately 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The affected buildings include Olin, Bell Center, Fieldhouse, Fine Arts (North), The Knapp Center, and Shivers. This scheduled shutdown is a part of the electrical projects that need to completed prior to the construction of the two buildings on the campus. The rain date for the shutdown is March 15.
On March 19 and March 20 an additional scheduled electrical shutdown will occur. Below is a list of the affected buildings and expected time of the power outage for each building:
March 19
March 20
Rain dates will need to be found later in the spring semester or early summer. If bad weather is predicted, we may start on March 18, depending on scheduled events. If a decision is made to start on March 18, all individuals in these buildings will be notified. If you have questions regarding these scheduled electrical shutdowns please contact Jolene Schmidt, director, operations and support services, at jolene.schmidt@drake.edu.
—Jolene Schmidt
As part of STEM@DRAKE construction, 27th Street will close permanently on March 14. No parking or thru traffic will be allowed; two handicap parking spaces at the south end of the west side of 27th Street will remain open. Sidewalks along 27th Street will also be shut down. For an overview of closures, visit the Building STEM@DRAKE website.
Drake University held a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday, Feb. 27, for the University’s first new academic building in 20 years. Collier-Scripps Hall is a $15 million, 50,000 square-foot facility that will house the University’s School of Education, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center. For more information, visit the Drake Newsroom.
The cold weather has not stopped the hard work of construction crews who began work in early February on the STEM@DRAKE buildings. With input from key impacted groups across campus—including those who teach or have offices near the construction site—several steps are being taken to minimize the disruption that can occur during a large building project. There will be times, however, when concerns or issues arise as a result of construction activity. When that occurs, faculty, staff, or students may contact Public Safety at 271-2222. Public Safety will address your concerns with appropriate construction or facilities personnel, depending on the issue.
Project updates can also be found on the Building STEM@DRAKE website.
—Submitted by Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
The University recently launched a website dedicated to keeping the community apprised of developments related to the STEM@DRAKE construction project. You’ll find updates, floor plans, and more details about the construction at www.drake.edu/buildingstem.
Drake’s campus is about to change with the construction of the new Science Connector Building and the new School of Education, and faculty, staff, and students will feel the effects this major construction project. Delivery of construction trailers and the fencing of the construction sites will begin next week. These changes—detailed in this site map—will be in place for approximately 18 months. Below you will find a list of the approximate dates of changes and milestones. I will periodically update these items as the changes occur.
Week of Jan. 25: Construction trailers arrive/set up
First week of February: Fencing of construction sites; closing south lane of Forest Avenue
March 14: Closure of 27th Street and various areas near the construction site:
Note: Commuter parking can be found in the Fine Arts Parking Lot or the parking lot just to the north of Opperman Hall.
Summer 2016: Closure of sidewalk that runs east and west just to the south of Olin
Please review the map and let me know if you have any concerns or issues. Thank you.
—Submitted by Jolene Schmidt, Director, Operations and Support Services
Over the next few weeks, you will notice the removal of 38 trees on campus. The trees will be removed from two construction sites: between Olin and Fitch halls for the construction of the Science Connector Building (Infill Building Tree Map), and from the south side of Olin Hall to the area just north of Medbury Hall for the School of Education (Education Building Tree Map). This will include all the trees in this area from 27th Street to the 28th Street Plaza.
Drake University will be required by the City of Des Moines and the Drake University Tree USA Committee to replace trees on the campus. As part of the new construction project, the University will plant 64 trees on campus. The trees will be located around the new building sites and other places across the campus.
As part of this removal, Drake will cut down four to five specially picked large oak trees. These particular oaks are approximately 100 years old. The trunks of these oaks will be milled for use in other projects on the campus in the future. The logs will be cut into 20-foot planks and stored for approximately two years; some potential uses of these special pieces of Drake history include wooden benches, picture frames, and more. If you have any other ideas for the use of this wood around campus, please let me know.
We have previously shared the tree information at the STEM@DRAKE Open House and the Holiday Breakfast. Drake University Grounds Department has established a Recommended Campus Trees list of potentially disease-free species to replant on the campus, which you can view here. If you would like to provide input on which trees the University should plant, please email jolene.schmidt@drake.edu.
—Submitted by Jolene Schmidt, Director of Operations and Support Services
