College of Medicine building at 35% completion; end date still set for fall 2012
The College of Medicine building has had no hitch in the construction process and is still expected to be completed by its set date of occupation.
Dr. Ernest Yoder, the college’s dean, said things are “a bit ahead of schedule and on target” for occupation by fall 2012.
The completion rate for the school is now set at 35 percent, said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management.
“The basement, underground utilities and foundations are complete,” Lawrence said. “Structural steel is nearly completed.”
Work on the second and third concrete floors are complete and metal stud work, Dens board sheeting and exterior metal stud wall framing are underway, he said.
Lawrence said in the next two weeks additional work on the first floor wall framing and upper level courtyard window framing will be completed.
The project is a $24-million, 60,000-square-foot addition to the Health Professions Building, and will be similar in appearance.
The exterior should be completed by December,” said Steve Smith, director of public relations.
Yoder said the college is important to CMU and its students. A large influx in students this semester came with an increase in pre-medicine students, he said.
“This year, CMU had its largest freshman class,” he said.
Yoder said the university is addressing the shortage of physicians in the state and creating new ways of training students.
Construction began on the new facility in February 2009. So far, the College of Medicine has had no problems in construction, Lawrence said.
