Summertime construction: What’s changing at W&M

There are two universal truths in life: one is that girls never fart, and two is that colleges always have construction projects underway during the summer.

William and Mary has a Campus Master Plan – an official sounding document that spells out the vision for campus – what is being built, torn down, added upon, etc. It has a lot of projects planned for the next decade. It has a lot of projects planned for the summer (32 to be precise. Most of them are small fix-it projects, however).

After speaking with Wayne Boy, the director of the Project Management Office, here are the highlights of what’s going to be different by the fall semester.

Tyler Hall is going to be completed

Faculty should be moving in by August. The building should house government, economics, and public policy, which used to be in Morton. Morton will not be torn down yet, rather it shall remain “swing space.” As other buildings are being renovated, the departments can be temporarily housed in Morton until their fancy-pants new space can be built.

ISC 3 will be finished

The new building will host science-y classes. All class space that is being lost through the tear-down of Millington will be shifted over to ISC 3. Then a four month process of removing hazardous compounds from Millington will ensue, because you cannot take a wrecking ball to a building that might release carcinogens into our friendly Williamsburg air.

Zable Stadium is receiving fancy upgrades

There will be more seats; there will be more seats with backs; there will be new astroturf; there will be an overhang with seats called “The Bathtub”; there will be an extra concession stand halfway up the stands, so if you are sitting in the nosebleed section you don’t need to hike all the way back down for a hot dog; there will be lots of bathrooms. There was a lot of pride in the fact that there will be a lot of bathrooms around the stadium. And hey, bathrooms are important.

All the Lodges will be torn down (except for the Daily Grind)

The lodges will be gone. They will eventually be replaced with an integrative health center, which will house the health center, counseling services, dietary center, mindfulness center, and health promotion all under one roof. This new building will not be started over the summer, but the lodges will be gone.

Other smaller projects include improving storm water runoff, consolidating legal clinics into the law school, and the gradual renovation of One Tribe Place, which has lots of water damage. Enjoy the summer. There will be people in hard hats running around campus, improving it for your return.