Despite multiple campus construction and maintenance projects anticipated to finish by the end of summer at San José State, construction is scheduled to continue through the fall semester frustrating incoming students navigating their way around campus.
These projects aim to improve safety for students and faculty and provide adaptability for events on Tower Lawn and are scheduled to be completed in mid to late September, according to the SJSU Campus Construction and Maintenance Projects webpage.
Aaron Klemm, associate vice president of SJSU’s Facilities Development and Operations, said there have been delays to the Tower Lawn Lighting Improvement project.
“ The way public works, construction works is unforeseen conditions, grant schedule relief and/or budget relief to the contractors,” Klemm said. “So you have a best laid plan schedule and everyone’s agreed to a price and then you find some unforeseen condition that causes a delay or an increase in price.”
The project is intended to enhance the lighting surrounding Tower Lawn and replace outdated infrastructure, according to the SJSU Campus Construction and Maintenance Projects website.
“ There were fairly regular failures, particularly in the wintertime when the soil was wet where the lights would be off,” Klemm said. “They would get wet, short out and they would be off for a night on all of Tower Lawn. And it was not safe for our electricians to try to come just with headlamps and try to make those repairs.”
Klemm said that on this project there were several delays because of special events that had construction workers sent home for days resulting in schedule relief.Michelle Smith McDonald, senior director of media relations at SJSU, said in an email sent to the Spartan Daily that the facilities team communicated updates to employees on campus throughout the summer.
“Our facilities team sent out messages to employees who were on campus on May 19, June 2, June 9, June 23, June 30 and July 7 before setting up the page,” Smith McDonald said.
Despite these updates sent out during the summer, there were no updates outside of the webpage that communicated any delays in the construction and maintenance projects on campus from the university to students.
“We provide updates that marketing and communications who our communications experts target at folks. Because if you send email blasts to everyone too frequently, no one’s ever gonna read them,” Klemm said.
Smith McDonald confirmed that students can expect communication via the Sammy app regarding the status of construction projects during the fall semester.
Brent Young, a third-year computer science student at SJSU, said he is disappointed about the lawn being closed off to students.
“ Especially with the weather right now, it does make me a little sad because it is a cute area and I’d like to play spike ball and I had an idea (with) portable KBBQ tables,” Young said. “I don’t know, it’s just like a cool friend hangout area. So, I don’t know what’s going on.”
Klemm confirmed that Tower Lawn will be fenced off until SJSU’s annual Fire on the Fountain event which will take place on Oct. 17, according to the SJSU event webpage.
Two of the three projects that will be continuing into the fall semester include the Central Classroom Building: Occupational Therapy Spaces Renovation and Ongoing Tower Hall Façade Repair, according to the SJSU Campus Construction and Maintenance Projects webpage.
According to the same source, the pathway between the Student Wellness Center and the Spartan Complex East Wing will be fenced off because of the Central Classroom Building renovation and moderate noise and detours can be expected.
The ongoing Tower Hall façade repair will be continuing from last school year, according to Klemm and has faced budget issues resulting in the delay of the project’s completion.
“ We need $4 million and we only have $500,000 to make that repair. So we are starting on design with the starter money,” Klemm said. “There’s not really a lot of active loud construction that’s disruptive – that construction fence was up last spring semester as well to keep people from getting injured from falling stucco.”
Sophia Gerardo, a first-year aerospace engineering student at SJSU, said she has experienced difficulty navigating the campus because of the detours and fencing around Tower Lawn.
“ The campus… it’s a lot to take in. I got lost a good amount of times,” Gerardo said. “ Me and my friends were thinking about doing like a little picnic kind of thing. But the grass is blocked off, so it was kinda hard to find somewhere to sit down.”
