Construction of a road from Richland Avenue to the new Baker University Center is slated for completion in October 2008, a university official said.
To improve access to the new center with the road, Ohio University is also demolishing the Anderson Laboratory building and constructing a $5.7 million expansion to Porter Hall.
It's a challenge for the public to get there
said John Kotowski, associate vice president for facilities. The project's goal is better access to Porter, Baker and Bird Arena for the general public and service vehicles, he said.
Currently, the only road to Baker's first floor entrance is Oxbow Trail, which runs past Bird Arena and the Aquatic Center.
Demolition of Anderson, work on the parking lot adjacent to Bird Arena and construction of a heavy-duty road off Richland Avenue able to support truck and bus traffic will cost $730,000, said Richard Shultz, the university's director of implementation.
Anderson is a small building that needed to be renovated Shultz said. Instead of putting $500 000 into a small building with limited use
we thought it'd be better to take the building down.
Anderson was built in 1973 and received a $200,000 addition ' 14 rooms at a total of 1,200 square feet ' in October 2002. The addition was completed a month before the decision to tear the building down as part of planning for the new Baker University Center.
Shultz said the decision to build the addition, even as Anderson was planned for demolition, was worthwhile because of the five years of use the psychology department got out of the additional space.
A $5.7 million addition to Porter, to be completed before Anderson is demolished, will house clinical labs currently in Anderson, Shultz said.
Drawings for the project will be completed March 1, with bidding for the contract to follow April 21, Shultz said. Construction on the Porter addition will begin during late June and is expected to take 13 months to complete, he said.
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The new roadway, scheduled to be completed in 2008 with offer Athens' citizens easier access to the new Baker Center from Richland Avenue
