By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau
Grand Canyon University students, employees and visitors will notice a few access and parking changes in the coming weeks — and a few more construction fences around campus.
Work is almost ready to begin on a second engineering building, which will be located where single-story buildings 1 through 5 have stood for so many years at the front of campus. The last of the portable trailers in that area were taken away Wednesday, the same day fencing went up for the construction area, and the buildings are scheduled to be demolished next week.
The parking lot to the west also has been closed because the engineering building will extend into that area and that area will serve as a construction supplies storage area. Offices and people from buildings 1 through 5 were temporarily moved to other locations around campus, mainly Hegel Hall, in August and September.
Also due to be razed is the Tell Science Building, which will be gone before the end of the month to make way for one of two new apartment buildings in that area. The other building will go on the site of the student parking lot, also recently fenced and closed, that was south of Papago II. Both buildings will be similar in size to those at the new residential complex for freshmen, The Grove, on the northwest side of campus.
The other of the four construction zones on campus — click here to see a map — include the new soccer stadium and administration building, both scheduled to be ready early next year.
The grass field and berms for the soccer stadium have been in for several weeks, and the stands on the west side are starting to rise. Grading has begun on the site of the administration building, located just west of the Promenade and south of the Student Union.
What this means for anyone coming to GCU by car is this:
- The entrances off Camelback Road at 33rd and 34th avenues lead to the Camelback garage only.
- The entrance at Camelback and 31st now merely provides access to the Loop Road at the back end of campus, leading to the parking garage on 35th Avenue and surface parking behind Hegel and Canyon halls.
- The hours of the 31st Avenue and Missouri Avenue entrances have been flipped. The gate at 31st and Camelback is now open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the gate on Missouri is open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
- The parking lot at Hegel is for students only. Employees must continue to park in the Camelback or 35th Avenue garages.
- The entrance off 35th Avenue south of the practice baseball field is now for construction traffic only.
East of campus, grading has begun on the new intramural field at 30th Drive and West Colter Street. It is expected to be completed in November.
Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or [email protected].
