Construction around campus is set to continue through winter semester and will include ongoing projects, new projects and two boxes in the middle of campus that remain a mystery.
This semester's campus construction will include a few more weeks with these two generators, whose purpose is unknown, beside the HBLL. Photo by Elliott Miller.
'Administration is constantly reviewing the needs of our students,' said Todd Hollingshead, BYU informations and media relations manager, in reference to the motive for current construction projects on campus. 'It's just an ongoing process.'
Hollingshead outlined four current construction projects on campus: New Heritage on-campus housing, landscape work between the Wilkinson Student Center and the J. Reuben Clark Building, the Life Sciences Building and a guest home near the Former Presidents' Home.
New Heritage currently has eight dormitory buildings that stand where Deseret Towers and Heritage Halls housing once stood.
'They're starting the construction of four new buildings this semester,' Hollingshead said. 'The new buildings will take the place of older Heritage Halls buildings, which crews tore down late last year and will continue razing in the coming month.'
Students living in older Heritage and New Heritage will have an unobstructed path through the construction.
'There have been paths made so students can get to and from campus,' Hollingshead said.
Campus Drive, another ongoing project, only lacks landscape finishing work. Hollingshead said the remaining work would be slow until the snow melts.
Students will notice this semester that most of the exterior work of the Life Sciences Building has been finished.
'The majority of the work is moving into the interior,' Hollingshead said.
Hollingshead added that it will be open on schedule.
Rodney Brown, a dean of the College of Life Sciences, began participating in the planning of the new building the day he was hired.
'For the long term, the building will be a very valuable thing for the college and will have a big effect on what happens,' Brown said.
Other smaller projects will move forward throughout the semester. Interior work will enter final phases on the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, construction will continue on a guest home near the Former Presidents' Home, and work on the exterior of the Karl G. Maeser Building will continue.
Two power trailers will also remain on campus between the Harold B. Lee Library and the Talmage Math Sciences/Computer Building. The trailers are for IT purposes and will stay on campus 'a little while longer,' said director of IT communications Mike Brown.
'We prefer not to draw a lot of attention to it,' Brown said.
For now, or perhaps forever, the boxes are a mystery.