Campus undergoes various construction

Over the past year, several construction sites have emerged throughout campus. From the School of Communication to the School of Music, it seems that every building on campus is being revamped in some way.

The most recent groundbreaking was near the Wolfson building on Oct. 18. This $9 million project is for the future site of the School of Communication student center, to be completed in Oct. 2005.

The center will be five stories high, with classrooms, computer labs, lecture halls, copy rooms and faculty and graduate students’ offices.

A similar improvement has been taking place at the School of Music over the past year.

The music school’s technical center and library was a $10 million endeavor that started December of last year and is set to be operational by Jan. 2005. The technical center will have different labs like computer and recording labs. The library will have such aids as a listening library, a reading library, as well as its own stacks.

For some students, especially those who may not be receiving direct benefits from the construction, the changes are more of an inconvenience than anything else.

“I don’t like that they have taken away parking spaces, because it makes things even more difficult, but I guess in the end it will be better in improving the school,” Jessica Pouza, a commuter student, said.

Napoleon Santos, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the improvements seem to be unfairly distributed.

“In my opinion, we need a new Cox Building,” Santos said.

According to Sergio Rodriguez, vice president of Campus Planning and Construction, the projects are not allocated in preference to one school over another. It depends on the source of funding for each project. The current construction sites are primarily funded through private donations.

Other sources of funding include a business plan set up by each school, in which the amount already designated for each school’s budget is evaluated as a construction source. For example, the Cox Science Center will be adding labs with money specifically saved by the College of Arts and Sciences for such a project.

The Momentum fundraising campaign, set to raise $1 billion by 2007, is an additional source of income for scholastic expansions. The money raised will go toward the construction of buildings, faculty, scholarships and research centers.

This money raised in the campaign will be used for such prospective developments as an alumni center, new Student Activities center, Richter Library expansion, Wellness Center expansion, Cox Science Center renovation and additions to Hecht Residential College and the Lowe Museum.

Camille Cohen can be contacted at c.cohen@umiami.edu.