Cal Poly will reveal how the new Science and Mathematics Building demolition and construction will impact the campus later this month.
The plan shows what parts of campus will shut down to accommodate demolition and construction of the new building, which will be located in the middle of campus, between North Polyview Drive and Via Carta.
“It’s going to disrupt this part of campus,” said Philip Bailey, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. “It’ll be tough for two and a half years.”
The difficulty will be worth it, Bailey said. The new, six-story building will be almost 200,000 square feet and have enough study space to rival the University Union.
While most of the north end of the building has already been emptied, summer classes will end in August, Bailey said. To start the major demolition of the building, fences are to be put up during Week of Welcome, which starts Sept. 15, or earlier. However, the removal of asbestos and other materials may start as early as the end of August, he said.
The project, which has been in the works for more than 15 years, received the money needed to continue plans and complete construction.
“We were very unlucky. We thought we would occupy in fall 2008,” Bailey said.
Funding for the new building came mostly from a $400 million state bond, which added $105 million to the $19.5 million raised by private donations, Bailey said. The state had previously approved funding for the design of the building and another bond will provide for the furniture in the building, putting the total project budget at $136 million.
The $400 million bond supplied the University of California and California State University systems with funding for similar building projects.
The architect company, Zimmer Gunsul and Frasca Architects, has been working on the plan for a year. Gilbane Construction Company is now working with the architect to finalize the plans.
Some of the projects Zimmer Gunsul and Frasca Architects have worked on include designing more than a million square feet of space for Microsoft and the Portland International Airport. Gilbane Construction Company is familiar with the Cal Poly campus, having built the Engineering IV building, which was more than half the size of the new Science and Math Building.
There is no way the total estimate will exceed the $136 million Cal Poly has for the building, said Bob Kitamura, head of Cal Poly Capital Projects. He said nothing could happen to make the total cost to the university exceed the estimate.
“It won’t,” he said flatly.
Along with reconstruction of the Science and Math Building, an upgrade to the Central Plant will provide the new, larger building with air conditioning, said Joel Neel, senior associate director for Cal Poly Capital Projects.
The upgrade will increase the chiller capacity to handle what is required for the Campus Master Plan and put the entire campus on the same cold-water loop. The plant’s cost is set at $12 million, which will come out of the $105 million bond, and maintenance will be paid by the state, Neel said.
Bids are currently out for subcontractors on the project but will be settled by the end of the month, said Barbara Queen, the project manager for the Science and Mathematics Building.