For the duration of the 2010-2011 school year, Cal Poly’s campus will be undergoing some changes in a few of its facilities.
Center for Science/Spider Building
A portion of the Spider Building will be undergoing a makeover to become more suitable for modern needs. The northern part of the building will be replaced in order to accommodate enrollment growth.
Featured in the new 200,000 square foot, six-story addition will be eight lecture rooms with a capacity of 486 students, 38 laboratories and 81 new faculty offices. All new classrooms will be “smart” rooms — they will feature wireless internet connection, said Pamela Timm, Administrative Analyst for Facilities Planning and Capital Projects.
Students like Katie Burzynksi, a materials engineering junior, have previously had trouble adapting to the old feeling of the Spider Building.
“It’s about time they get rid of the outdated classrooms (in the Spider Building),” Burzynski said.
The project, which began this fall and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2013, has been in the works for 15 years. Zimmer Gunsul and Fransul Architects is the architect and engineer for the project, which has a $136 million budget.
A portion of North Poly View Drive and Via Carta nearest to the building will be closed off to pedestrian, vehicle and bicycle traffic. The southern part of the building will be open for the duration of the construction.
Anticipated use of the completed Center for Science for students is Fall 2013.
Meat Processing Center
In 2007, part of the original meat processing center (Abattoir) was removed for the construction of Poly Canyon. Now, a new, over 13,000 square foot, USDA inspected facility will be built near the poultry center.
The new facility will be named the John Lau and Family Meat Processing Center, after the Lau family made a $1 million dollar donation to the facility.
The processing center will feature a fully-functioning plant that will also be used for teaching purposes. The plant will include a harvest floor with separation between hide-off and hide-on for beef, veal, lamb, pork and goat, a designated harvesting area for chicken and turkey, a ready-to-eat meat packaging area, a multi-purpose room and many other features.
The processing center is currently under construction and has an expected completion date of October 2011, Timm said. The center’s availability for student use will be determined by the Animal Science Department.
Recreation, Sports and Physical Education Center
The Rec Center is currently undergoing a major makeover. More than 85,000 square feet of fitness space is being added to the facility, which will include an exercise area, a two-court gym, six rebuilt racquetball courts, a multi-activity center, fitness rooms, an additional sand volleyball court, an indoor jogging track, a leisure pool and new administration offices.
The original motivation for the expansion of the facility was due to overcrowding, said Michelle Broom, public relations and marketing coordinator for Associated Students Inc.
“We were clearly not able to meet the needs of students,” Broom said.
Industry standards for exercise room space are 7.6 square feet per student; Cal Poly’s Rec Center had only 5.4 square feet per student. The Rec Center averages nearly 2,000 students a day.
Now, students will have more elbow room, Broom said.
Not only will students have triple the room to exercise in the updated facility, but they also will enter the Rec Center with more ease. Instead of using a PolyCard to enter, the Rec Center will use hand recognition technology.
A few months before the construction is finished, hand scanning stations will be set up in the University Union for students to become recognized in the hand database before the new Rec Center opens. There will also be a hand scanner “on the spot” in the refurbished lobby of the Rec Center for those students who didn’t get their hands scanned ahead of time, Broom said.
The Rec Center will also be more sustainable. The California State University system requires all new facilities to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which provides third party verification that a building is “green” and environmentally sustainable, Broom said.
“There are two reasons for LEED certification. One, it is the right thing to do, and two, it is CSU mandatory,” Broom said.
Less artificial light will be used in the entire building because of the addition of many new windows.
Although students won’t see many of the additions until January 2012, one thing they will get to utilize is remodeled locker rooms.
New, larger lockers were installed with more space between the benches and lockers. Group showers were also eliminated and replaced with individual shower stalls that will give bathers more room.
“It’s really exciting because it’s something the students will see right away,” Broom said.
The Rec Center will be open during the remainder of the construction period.
Simpson Strong-Tie
The Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Lab is the final component for the Construction Innovation Center.
The facility will serve the interactive needs of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design by featuring interior and exterior frameworks for mounting, testing and monitoring the performance of many products simultaneously.
The Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Lab is approximately 70 percent complete, Timm said. The facility is expected to be completed this fall.