Dundon-Berchtold Hall

Construction activity will be ramping up on Dundon-Berchtold Hall now that summer is underway, according to Jim Ravelli, university operations. Fortis Construction will need to accelerate the pace of their work in order to accomplish as much as possible during the summer months when students and many faculty are not on campus. In order to accomplish this, there are going to be changes to the traffic flow entering and exiting campus beginning this week and continuing through August 20. Please read the information below carefully and refer to the map located at the Facilities Planning & Construction page at this link.

VEHICLE ACCESS

Beginning Monday, May 14, auto traffic coming onto the campus via the main drive off of Willamette Boulevard will be required to stop and turn right by the Pilot House and proceed to the main lot. Cars will not be able to proceed any further along the main drive past the Pilot House to reach the Waldschmidt parking lot or Kenna Road. Southbound traffic on Willamette will be allowed to turn right to enter onto Kenna Road at the southeast edge of campus in order to park in the bluff or Waldschmidt lots. Traffic departing campus from Kenna Road can only turn right onto Willamette and proceed south.

Northbound traffic on Willamette cannot turn left onto Kenna Road, but must either proceed into the main entrance or must turn around further north and proceed back to the right turn entry into Kenna Road. Kenna Road will be striped to provide two lanes for traffic moving in both directions from Willamette Blvd. to the Waldschmidt parking lot.

All buses visiting campus will be directed to enter via Portsmouth Avenue, which will not be affected by the construction. This includes buses for camps or athletic events.

Fortunately, there will be no additional loss of parking spaces during the summer.

PEDESTRIAN ACCESS

From May 14 through August 6, pedestrian access to the Bookstore and Pilot House will be limited to the east side of the building. Contractors will be removing the recycled rubber pavers from the west side of the Bookstore and replacing the surface. The white oak in the middle of the turnaround on the main drive will not be harmed by construction projects but the other trees will be removed.

During this period, the Bookstore will remain open for business Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Pilot House will close beginning May 11 and will reopen on June 11 from 3 to  7 p.m.  Access to the patio and the sidewalk on the west side of the Bookstore will reopen after August 6.

The sidewalk along the east side of Romanaggi Hall and the Buckley Center will also be closed until August 6. All other pedestrian access remains the same as it has been during the early months of construction.

As always, the main concern is the safety of everyone on the campus, so please stay alert to contractor vehicles and trucks as they come and go, and be aware of these additional impacts the project will make.

After months of looking at the preliminary pre-construction work, you’ll finally be able to see the new Dundon-Berchtold Hall beginning to rise over the summer. The first stage will be the installation of the basement walls. The steel supports, which will be lifted into place by a crane, not pounded into the ground, will be installed in July. By the time the new academic year begins in late August, the superstructure of the new building will be in place.

For more information contact university operations at x7540 or landtise@up.edu.

Construction on Dundon-Berchtold Hall will begin on Monday, February 5, according to Jim Ravelli, university operations. This will be the first construction of a new building in the middle of campus since Franz Hall was built in 1995 and, as with any major building project in such a central location, there will be some impacts that can be minimized, but not entirely avoided. Beginning Monday, employees will begin to see an increase in activity on and around the site as contractors begin to mobilize. The main concern is the safety of everyone on campus, so please stay alert to contractor vehicles and trucks as they come and go, and be aware of these additional impacts the project will make:

Expanded fencing: One of the first activities will be the expansion of fencing around the site. Fencing will be expanded outward to include half the main road across from the Pilot House and towards Waldschmidt Hall. This will eliminate the sidewalk that extends from Shipstad to the roadway by Romanaggi Hall. The sidewalk next to Waldschmidt that runs in front of Christie will remain open for pedestrians. There will also be temporary walkways on the Shipstad side of the sequoias from Christie to the main drive.

Parking impact: Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the loss of several parking spots as the fencing expands into the roadway along the main entrance drive. This will affect all of the parking along the construction side of the main drive from the turnaround by the Pilot House to Waldschmidt. Parking on the side of the drive adjacent to Buckley and Romanaggi will remain available.

Traffic access: Because the fence will extend into the street, the road will be limited to a one-way only lane between the turnaround by the Pilot House and the Waldschmidt parking lot.  Traffic from the Waldschmidt lot area will be required to leave campus via the Kenna Hall exit.  As construction begins, a flagger will be on site to assist drivers who are headed past the Pilot House towards Waldschmidt Hall.

“Thank you for your patience as we start on this major construction,” says Ravelli. “I know it will require some adjustment for everyone, but the end reward of a new academic hall will be worth the temporary impact. Please plan on seeing regular construction updates from me as the project progresses.”

For more information contact Ravelli at 7540 or go to www.up.edu/uo.