CVS to be completed in October; Downtown construction will soon be completed

Chuck Miller/Staff Photographer
Construction workers continue working on the CVS Pharmacy on the corner of Preston and Mission. The completion date is set for October 28th.

More construction is coming close to campus.

Following completion of the CVS pharmacy at 712 E. Preston St. and 1306 S. Mission St. in October, construction will soon begin on a separate Preston Street project.

Building Official Brian Kench said a left turn lane will be added on Preston Street, between Mission Street and East Campus Drive, in addition to a ‘right turn only’ lane the full length of east-bound Preston Street.

“The area near the construction will include a pedestrian plaza and landscaping,” Kench said.

Currently, work on CVS is going as planned. Kench said the building permits were issued June 19 and construction began the first part of July and there have been no setbacks related to the construction of the building.

“There were a few days with rain that slow down the masonry work, but for the most part the contractors has moved very quickly with the work thus far,” he said.

Downtown work continues

Downtown construction will soon be completed, as Michigan Street is scheduled to be finished next week.

The $762,000 project, which was partially funded by a $375,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Construction, has removed and repaved the street, curbs and gutters, installed new sanitary and storm sewer lines, planted new trees and decorated the area with new planters. The rest was paid for by city funds.

Roger Rousse, director of public works, said the grant was helpful because it was time to repave the road.

“It was a federal aid eligible road. We were putting a ware on it,” he said. “The road was at the end of its useful life.”

Although the construction was slated to be completed Aug. 17, before students came back from summer vacation, Craig Schripsema, contract engineer and project manager for architectural, engineering and planning firm OHM, said it took more time as crews ran into setbacks and extra things were added to the contract.

“When you’re working in a downtown setting there are things that are unknown,” he said. “A lot of things you come across you expect, but you just don’t know what they are.”

However, besides the typical construction setbacks, Schripsema said utilities were generally not affected.

“Periodically people were without water sometimes,” he said. “But it didn’t last more than a half-day.”

Michelle Sponseller, downtown development director, said despite construction setbacks and burdens on local businesses, the good will soon outweigh the bad.

“Unfortunately with construction projects it’s difficult and hard on the businesses,” she said. “You have to make a mess to make things better. We’re going to be very happy when it’s done.”

So far, crews have remodeled and reopened the first three blocks of Michigan Street from Lansing to University streets. Currently, Michigan is closed from Washington to University streets — where crews are now.

Rousse said crews began paving Thursday and plan to finish by Wednesday.

Although Schripsema said some things have to happen before the construction crew is finished, he said they need to be done before next weekend.

“We have the remainder of the road to asphalt,” he said. “But we’re not going to let them work after Thursday because of the MSU-CMU game.”