Tuesday, September 30, 1997
Inconvenience of construction herds students through detours
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.