gym roofThough most E-town students are at the beach, working, participating on a study-abroad trip, interning at their dream company or napping in a hammock to make up on lost sleep from the school term, the campus at Elizabethtown College is far from asleep.

Summer Break, when less people are milling about on the grounds, is the time when construction projects kick in to high gear. Remodeling, rebuilding, resurfacing and resurrecting keep the Facilities Management staff moving.

Immediately after Commencement, phase two of renovations on Nicarry Hall were started. With the  ITS networking area as the first section to see updates, the first-floor renovations, at a cost of $1 million, include state-of-the-art technology; advanced, flexible-learning classrooms; updated furniture; and improvements to flooring, walls, ceilings and lighting. In addition, Nicarry offices and partition wall improvements will insulate against sound transmission.

What has replaced it is one that emphasizes group learning, huddle spaces, improved furniture and lighting …”

“The renovations to the first floor classrooms, offices and ITS networking and Help Desk will be a much welcome complement to the work that was completed last summer in the hallways,” said Mark Zimmerman, director of facilities management. “Phase I broke up the linear, institutional hallways and provided a visually pleasing and warm corridor with seating areas, a lounge, vending area and printing stations. … Gone is the outdated lecture-style classroom. What has replaced it is one that emphasizes group learning, huddle spaces, improved furniture and lighting, all of which lend to a more classical approach of collaborative thought and learning opportunities.”

Also in the first phase, this summer, is Ethernet switch replacement. Present switches are old, obsolete or are not able to support 10/100/1000 Network interface cards that have been standard on PC’s for the past decade. Lyet Wing for Biological Sciences, James B. Hoover Center for Business, Nicarry and Alpha Hall will see the first round of the $81,000 improvements as those buildings have higher port density than other buildings on campus.

Continuing with the $300,000 second phase of the new card-access system at E-town, all academic buildings on campus are being retrofit to tie into the College’s access control system. As buildings become part of this safety grid, the College will see increased security for students and faculty and staff members, and entrance ways to campus buildings will be more aesthetically pleasing.

A new 150KW natural gas generator is being installed in Brossman Commons this summer to allow additional capacity for dining services and a 100KW generator will be used to supply Schlosser and B. Mary Royer residence halls and Campus Security. Considering that the generators in Royer and Schlosser are original to the buildings, they are more than 40 years old. Major replacement parts are now unavailable, and they struggle when running for long periods of time and when more heavily loaded. The generators also overheat when running for prolonged times. In addition, the Campus Security generator is unstable, with frequency fluctuation between 30 and 60hz, which is beyond the tolerance range of any electronic equipment.

Combining all of these into one unit will minimize maintenance and operational costs. An additional benefit of investing in new generators is the ability to add unit ventilators for all of the Schlosser rooms and additional circuits for Campus Security. The area most impacted during the $145,000 replacement is from the west corner of Schlosser, across the bottom of the Dell, across Alpha Drive and into the North side of Royer as this project involves trenching.

Moving to the far end of campus, Leffler Chapel and Performance Center is undergoing $150,000 of aesthetic upgrades and, earlier in the summer, the pitched roof on Thompson Gym was replaced at a cost of $375,000. The project addressed issues with the present roof and numerous leaks that occur over the main floor in the gymnasium.

In addition to the roof repair to Thompson comes an $80,000 update to locker rooms C and D, located to the east of the athletic trainers’ room. Two of the four locker areas were already renovated, but this project addresses the last two with new lockers, epoxy flooring, bathroom partitions, updated lighting and painting.

And, just outside the Gym the track replacement project is off and running.

The current track is a poured surface with a 10-year average life. “The track surface had exceeded it’s life expectancy and was in much need of replacement,” said Zimmerman. “Many of the lanes had tears and patches which were becoming a safety hazard to the athletes.” Therefore, a Mondo Track SX (vulcanized rubber) surface is being introduced. The Mondo track comes in sections, making it easier to remove areas for repair, and the surface has an average life of 15 years. The vulcanized rubber surface also is highly valued by athletes for improved performance times.

“The new Mondo track SX surface is a highly sought after surface by professional, Olympic  and collegiate athletes,” Zimmerman noted. “The surface offers increased performance and running times and will feature varied colored lanes in the College colors of blue and grey. It should be a very attractive surface and a wonderful addition to our campus and athletics program.”

The full scope of this $759,000 project includes removing the existing track surface, asphalt and base repairs and installation of the Mondo Track.