By Mary Jo Frank
Armed with shiny shovels and a pile of ceremonial sand, University faculty, Regents and administrators “officially” broke ground for three Central Campus building projects last Friday afternoon.
More than 150 members of the University community attended the groundbreaking ceremonies held under a tent on the Diag, which highlighted the East Engineering Building renovation, Harrison M. Randall Laboratory of Physics addition, and the Undergraduate Library addition and renovation.
Acknowledging that the Diag area, festooned with chainlink fencing and temporary wooden sidewalks, looks a “bit like a battle zone,” President James J. Duderstadt said the din of construction already under way is a good sign.
“It is a sign that the University for the first time in many years is addressing the serious needs of academic units,” Duderstadt said.
Because of a combination of state, institutional and private support for capital facilities, as well as low interest rates and construction costs, “we have been able to embark on a series of much needed ‘home improvement’ projects that should put most of the Ann Arbor campus in top shape within the next few years,” Duderstadt said.
The additions and renovations are the result of efforts, dreams and dedication of a large number of people over a number of years, Duderstadt added, citing the persistent efforts of a series of LS&A deans and previous U-M presidents. He also expressed gratitude for the support and courage of the Board of Regents, which was represented at the ceremonies by Regents Paul W. Brown and Shirley M. McFee.
LS&A Dean Edie N. Goldenberg noted that the Department of Mathematics has been waiting for more than 60 years for a building in which all math faculty members could be together.
The renovation of the south wing of the East Engineering Building, which will become the home of the Department of Mathematics, is expected to be completed by the end of 1995.
The other department that will be happy to be in one building is psychology, which will occupy the north wing of East Engineering, Goldenberg said. That phase of the renovation is scheduled for completion in December 1994.
Noting that the psychology department has been scattered in various sites for as long as almost anyone can remember, the dean said, “The unification will provide unprecedented opportunities for interactions among faculty and students in that already eminent department.”
Construction of the Randall Laboratory addition, which will connect the existing Randall Laboratory and the north wing of West Engineering, began in early July and is expected to be completed in summer 1995.
Goldenberg thanked the faculty members and chairs of the mathematics, psychology and physics departments for their efforts and patience.
“LS&A has major infrastructure needs,” Goldenberg said. “These projects constitute a big step forward for us, and the prospect of their completion is truly exciting. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has had a voice or a hand in bringing us to this point.”
When the new Undergraduate Library opened in 1958, it was heralded as the “largest facility of its kind in the world,” noted Donald E. Riggs, dean of the University Library.
The Undergraduate Library renovation and addition reaffirms the University commitment to undergraduate education, Riggs added.
The expansion of the Undergraduate Library will include the creation of a new, integrated science library with a 300,000-volume combined collection from the chemistry, mathematics, natural science/geology and physics/astronomy libraries.
The new exterior of the library will be attractive, Riggs promised. It is being built around the existing library, adding 30,000 additional square feet of space inside. There also will be a new entrance and enclosed walkways to the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library and the West Engineering Building.
