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By Greg McKinley
A LOOK AHEAD
By Greg McKinley
It is likely that every student at RCC is acquainted with the A.G. Paul Quadrangle, and that even a few rarely stray from it, but the Quad that now stands will soon be changed.
A new renovation project is under way that will put the Quad out of service for upwards of two years; the project is not much different then that of the Martin Luther King library.
“Technically it’s a modernization project; the Quad will be brought up to standards and modernizing things like climate control, lighting, technology, wiring and infrastructure so that instructors who wanted things like internet access will have it,” said Sylvia Thomas, associate vice president of instruction.
Several new additions are going to be added to the Quad. The outside stairs that lead down to the Tigers’ Den will be renovated to be used as an amphitheatre. Another possible addition will be a clock tower, placed directly over what now are rooms 100 and 200.
“If you put a bell tower in that corner then you need one in every corner; it’s a quad it’s supposed to keep its symmetry,” said student Efrain Muniz.
Construction is scheduled to start soon. The Quad currently houses forty classrooms and seventy-three offices. As construction begins alternate plans are underway to replace the lost classrooms. Lovkin Field will be filled with portable classrooms and the portables will create up to thirty-eight class rooms and about sixty offices.
“The Quad project will come on the heals of the Martin Luther King library renovations; it appears that the project itself will begin around fall 2005,” Thomas said.
Most of the moving of the class rooms will take place during the summer of 2005. There will also be a large shuffling of classrooms to make way for the Quad renovations.
“The math labs and English labs will move to the MLK library which will give space for more classes and offices,” said Thomas. “The computer labs in the business building will be moved to the MLK library also to free up classroom and office space.”
Many RCC students may arrive after a summer break to find the Quad gated off and their classes scheduled for the new portables in Lovkin Field.
“Some time during the summer most of these moves will take place,” said Thomas. “We anticipate that all classes [from the Quad] for fall 2005 will be scheduled for down in that area.”
As for what to expect in the temporary portable classrooms, the general feelings of the staff is that the class rooms will be on par with what is currently available in the Quad.
“From a student perspective the classrooms will be very similar to the Quad,” Thomas said.
Though the classrooms may be relatively the same as their Quad counterpart, their location won’t be.
The work on the Quad will probably be finished around 2007. The Quad will be more modern than it is now. In addition to physical, electrical and technological upgrades there will also be an aesthetic upgrade as well.
According to Thomas the Quad is going to be modernized but restored to the way the artists and architects originally planned.
