Novell prepares to move into 412,000 square foot building

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    By DARIN ALLISON

    The future is here, and Novell’s new eight-story office building sets a standard that includes 25 miles of internal fiber optics and over 500 miles of cable for unprecedented communications capabilities.

    June 1, 1998, Novell announced the construction of Building ‘H’ in Provo’s East Bay industrial park with Mayor Lewis K. Billing’s of Provo and Mayor Joe Nelson of Orem in attendance.

    The occasion was cause for celebration, ensuring Novell’s commitment to remain in Utah and provide opportunities to residents.

    “As we begin construction on this beautiful new building, Novell reaffirms that we are in Utah to stay,” said Dr. Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Novell at the time.

    Novell, one of the leaders of network software, is currently in the closing stages of their newest addition.

    “The building is close to 412,000 square feet in size, and will accommodate approximately 1,200 employees,” said Ralf Gale, project manager of the new facility.

    The massive facility gives Novell bragging rights of having the largest office building in Provo.

    Employees will move into the spacious structure during the first week of February. Several of these individuals will come from the north campus in Orem.

    “We’ll be moving about 12% of the Orem employees to the new office building,” Gale said. “We are planning to move people in on the 11th of February.”

    Gale said the upper floors are not entirely finished. The project will be fully complete by the first of April.

    Consolidating the Orem campus with that of Provo has already enabled small business’ to lease out the recently evacuated office space.

    With the latest technology available to employees, many look forward to relocating.

    “Upgraded networking capabilities and the speed of the network being faster, will ultimately increase productivity,” said Carl Tietjen, a senior software engineer at Novell.

    According to Tietjen, Novell has also constructed an indoor fitness center which will help accommodate employees wanting to fulfill exercise needs without having to travel to and from local gyms.

    “It will be nice to have it close to us, 24-7,” Tietjen said.

    Those acquainted with the computer business often endure schedules that go well into the night. Making it difficult to find exercise and recreational facilities open, let alone close by.

    The structure is said to be surrounded by amenities that resemble those of a country club. These include a basketball court, volleyball pit and a large open area of grass and trees for even more recreational use.

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