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The Rice Thresher
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by Rachel Rustin thresher staff
"Things are going very well," Director of Project Management Barbara White said. "Most of our contractors are aggressively managing their schedules, or they are resequencing the construction on projects to allow for things to be done at the same time." Based on the current schedule, the new Wiess building won't open until April 2002, but the commons will be completed a year before that. The commons will open this spring, and Hanszen College students will begin using it. The Hanszen Commons must be rebuilt to create the super-kitchen Hanszen will eventually share with Wiess. The current Hanszen Commons will be demolished after this spring's commencement to minimize problems for students. "We felt like the disruption would be a lot less if we could start in the summer," White said. "It's a little bit of challenge because it tightens the schedule at the other end. But, if we can make all the manpower commitments work out as far as the project closeout at the other end, then it would be great. The Wiess College and the new Hanszen Commons need to open at the same time so we can move the Wiess students into the Wiess commons." While this plan is not yet official, White said she is planning on it. Construction on the new Hanszen Commons will not begin until this summer. The new Hanszen Commons will include an outdoor dining area, classrooms and a connection to a terrace. Like the current commons, it will have a loft. The back deck, barbecue pit and volleyball court the college had before Wiess construction began are gone, but the new commons will have a projection screen and a game room. "I think students will be pretty impressed with what they have in store for their commons," Hanszen President Lindsay Germano said. "It's definitely going to be tough and kind of a change in the way of life at Hanszen, but it has a lot of new features, a lot of good space." After the new Hanszen Commons is finished, workers will make final improvements to the Wiess Commons so "it's back to being a new building when [Wiess students] move in," White said. This could include adding a fresh coat of paint or putting in a new carpet. Even though Hanszen and Wiess will be sharing a servery, the Wiess Commons will have a satellite servery so that family-style dining can continue. The new Wiess will also have wider balconies, and all of the rooms will be suites. "A lot of people say that the crappiness of the [building] has something to do with the character of Wiess, but I don't buy that," Wiess President Josh Katz said. "I think it's the outdoor layout, the social layout that has to do with the spirit of Wiess. The new Wiess will be just this social." White acknowledges that the amount of construction on campus is unusually heavy at the moment but said she is doing her best to keep the campus a nice place for students. She said the construction Web site, located at http://project.rice.edu, provides a way for students and others affected by the construction to let her know about problems or concerns. "If there is something that just isn't working for the students on a day-to-day basis, we absolutely want to know that and we want to do something about it," White said. "I want your experience at Rice to be as good as it can be. It shouldn't be a great place to live someday - it should be a great place to live now. We're still trying to accomplish some goals, but we ought to make it a great place."
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