August 25. 2003 :: No. 26
Campus Construction Boom
Is Backdrop for Fall Semester Launch
Cal State Fullerton students returning to
campus this week for the start of fall semester classes are finding
themselves in the midst of the university’s largest construction
boom since the first buildings were erected in the 1960s.
New features already in place range from shaded benches
beckoning to passersby from the perimeter of the fountain outside
Langsdorf Hall to a newly expanded P.E. building that’s been
renamed to suit its sparkle — the Kinesiology and Health Science
Building.
The 71,000-square-foot expansion of the facility that
is home to Titan Gym and hosted the team handball competition during
the 1984 Summer Olympics now boasts new facilities for the Wellness
Center for Successful Aging, a two-court multipurpose gymnasium
and a 125-seat lecture hall, as well as faculty offices. Funding
from a bond measure passed by voters in 1998 as Proposition 1A made
the $19 million expansion possible.
“Kinesiology is the study of movement, and for
movement we need space,” said Roberta Rikli, dean of the College
of Human Development and Community Service. “The new wing
will provide students with new and enhanced labs and classrooms,
as well as modern, state-of-the-art equipment for their career preparation
in rehabilitative services, fitness, health promotion, sports and
education. With this expansion, our faculty members have, for the
first time ever, their own offices in a building devoted to their
field,” she added.
Elsewhere on campus, construction continues on the
$43 million Performing Arts Center project — also funded with
bond revenues, plus private donations. A bid was awarded this month
to Hensel Phelps Construction Co., which has district offices in
Irvine.
Work began this summer on a five-level parking structure
on the southwest side of campus, with spaces for 2,500 cars when
completed next fall. It’s the first of two parking structures
slated to accommodate the university’s growing population.
The fall semester is expected to bring a record crop
of students — an estimated 32,000, including more than 3,200
at the university’s year-old El Toro Campus. Last year’s
fall semester student count topped the charts at 31,545.
This year’s incoming tenure-track faculty members
total 50, including 10 former lecturers and two librarians.
For the coming months, campus planners have rented
additional parking spaces for students, faculty and staff members
to use free of charge at the nearby Spectrum Club Fullerton and
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Shuttle buses, also free to riders, operate
from both locations Mondays through Thursdays when classes are in
session. The first shuttle leaves the Arrowhead Pond at 6:30 a.m.
and makes its final departure from campus at 5:30 p.m. The shuttle
route between campus and the Spectrum Club Fullerton operates from
7 a.m.-10 p.m. and also on Fridays until 6 p.m.
Other strategies to manage the limited availability
of parking include capping the sale of student parking passes and
also offering limited-use passes good for parking on campus after
3 p.m. and all day Friday. A no-tip valet program that has allowed
for stacked parking in select student lots for the past two years
is being continued and may be expanded to faculty/staff parking
lots, as well. The top level of the Fullerton Marriott is again
reserved for overflow faculty/staff parking.
“We’re doing everything we can to accommodate
the heavy demand for parking and to encourage members of the campus
community to use public transportation and carpool whenever possible,”
said Joe Ferrer, director of parking and transportation. Drivers
are being urged to visit the Web at www.parking.fullerton.edu for
more information.
media contact: |
Paula Selleck, Public Affairs, 657-278-2414
or pselleck@fullerron.edu |
|