by christian bell

News Editor

Students coming back from Christmas and Interims abroad have undoubtedly noticed the progress being made on the new overpass and East Campus buildings. The reports are that the building projects are on schedule and moving along smoothly. Chimes was recently given a tour of the new facilities by Vice President for Administration, Finance, and Information Services Henry DeVries. Here's how the progress looks so far:

The Overpass: The roof on the portions of the overpass spanning the Beltline are in place, all the structural work is complete, and the frames for the enclosing glass are also in place.

``Now we can start installing the glass and we'll have relatively few requirements to shut down the Beltline,'' said DeVries.

The huge glass panes - each one double-paned and several inches thick - are in crates on the overpass and ready to be put into place. Additionally, most of the piping and wire conduits are in place over the bridge in what will become the ceiling. The roof for the sections spanning the campus ring road on both the east and west sides will be finished in several weeks, and once the glass panes are installed, the structure can be heated. The overpass is still on schedule to be opened by early April, shortly after Spring Break. Additionally, the graduating senior class recently announced that its class gift will be a lighted Calvin logo plaque to go on the center tower.

The Communications Building: This impressive building is already well on its way to completion. All the external structure work is completed, and the sheet rock floors are almost completed. The top two floors are already enclosed and heated, and the basement will be enclosed as soon as the major machinery is no longer needed. The Communications Building, which will be used for CAS and Political Science courses next fall, is considered the priority building in the East Campus construction.

The Prince Conference Center: The Prince Conference Center is secondary in priority to the Communications Building, because it is not as essential to the academic side of Calvin. Nonetheless, construction along the building is moving along well. Like the CAS building, all the structural work is in place, and the building is currently being covered and insulated so it can be heated and interior work can begin. The Conference center will include a large reception area, a large meeting room capable of holding hundreds of people, several board rooms, a large dining room, and other conference facilities.

The Prince Conference Lodging Center: Another part of the Prince Conference Center is a several hundred room lodging facility designed to accommodate visitors to the Center. DeVries described this building as the furthest along, although it some ways it is also the most simplistic.

The Lodging facility resembles a hotel, with several rooms each with a bedroom with queen-size bed and bathroom.

Overall, the building projects are going very successfully, and the new exposure that Calvin receives raises visibility and awareness of the campus. If everything finishes on schedule and without incident, all the major construction projects should be finished by the end of the year - and possibly as early as the fall.