Summer construction in full swing on campus

Hard at work, construction crews have amped up their efforts during the summer as campus is, comparatively, quieter and weather is warmer. This work will soon bear fruit.

In the fall, Amy Gutmann Hall will open for use, as will a new office building at 3935 Walnut St. The cutting-edge Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology will follow soon after with a spring semester building opening. The Jane and David Ott Center for Track and Field will be in use as early as December.

According to Facilities & Real Estate Services (FRES), there are a total of 404 active projects, amounting to $1.6 billion in approved budgets. Sixty-nine projects closed from January through March with $4.7 million in savings; all projects are on budget.

Residential life

The Quad, consisting of three college houses, recently wrapped up its first of three phases of construction, with the Riepe College House section opening in time for the fall semester. Students will notice new HVAC units and windows and wood flooring, accessibility improvements, bathrooms restructured to be all-gender, and new furniture in student rooms and common areas. On the exterior, passersby will observe restoration repairs of historic elements of the structure, new roofing, and restored historic chimneys.

"It's like renovating an old house," says Christopher Kern, executive director of design and construction, of the project. The Quad was originally constructed from 1895-1950 and was the University's first residence hall. Phase 1 of three phases of full building renovations will conclude in August of 2026. Phase 2 of the project, Ware College House, began this summer and will last approximately 15 months, says Kern. This phase will temporarily close access between the upper and lower portions of the Quad.

Athletic facilities

The ambitious 71,910-square-foot Ott Center for Track and Field in the southeast corner of campus will finish construction in November and include a six-lane, 200-meter banked track; an eight-lane sprint track; and a throwing area. It will accommodate more than 1,000 spectator seats and is the only collegiate indoor track and field facility of its kind in the Philadelphia region.

This summer, work is being finished on the track surface. Because construction crews staged in the nearby soccer field, storing equipment and other materials, that field has also been rebuilt and resodded, and is ready for fall soccer use.

At Pottruck Health & Fitness Center, the Sheerr Pool, first built in 1967, closed for renovations in July and will finish in May 2025. The upgrades include new lighting, pool tile replacement, a new entry stair into the pool, a revamped gutter system with zero depth entry, accessibility improvements, and new diving boards.

The SEPTA train tracks east of the Palestra are home to the Goldie Paley Memorial Bridge that connects the north side of Franklin Field with Penn Park. The arched pedestrian bridge was removed in July for maintenance and restoration-replacement of decking, plexiglass, repainting, and steel restoration-and will be re-installed later this month. The Weave Bridge, located further to the east in Penn Park over the Amtrak Northeast Corridor lines, will receive a similar restoration next summer.

Academic and research facilities

Amy Gutmann Hall is on track for a dedication in September and an opening this fall. The Vagelos Lab, meanwhile, will finish substantial construction in September; at that time, says Kern, Walnut Street will "get back to normal," with a new plaza and pathway providing a convenient connection between Walnut Street and Shoemaker Green.

The Morris Arboretum & Gardens will begin construction in October on an 1,800-square-foot lab building, with an opening date set for late spring. Morris is also planning a small structure adjacent to the Garden Railway, currently in the design process, that will celebrate, in a smaller scale, the aesthetics of the historic Chestnut Hill West Train Station. The structure is meant to be a storage space and shelter for staff who work on the railway.

College Hall's restoration work will mostly finish in August with some lingering work in late September. The western wing will be completely new inside, designed to add accessibility features. The exterior, intentionally, will look familiar.

"From the outside, the point is to make it look historic, so hopefully, unless you look closely, you [won't notice anything]," says Kern. Windows have been replaced and the iconic green serpentine stone walls have been recreated in cast stone to emphasize the historic details.

Work began this summer on Stuart Weitzman Hall along Smith Walk, with demolition, bulk excavation, and foundations. When finished, the project-the most significant building expansion for the Weitzman School in 55 years-will add a 20,000-square-foot addition to the already 20,000-square-foot existing building, formerly the Morgan Building. The existing building will receive a substantial renovation that includes accessibility features.

A focus of the project will add studios for fine arts, architecture, and landscape architecture students; there will also be exhibition space. The two buildings will connect and will be flanked by a series of stepped seating facing Smith Walk, borrowing from the design of Weitzman Plaza across 34th Street. The project will finish in August 2025.

In addition to all the above projects, 15 buildings around campus are undergoing façade repair work, ranging from the Franklin Building to the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center.