Construction on the new Center for Academic Success and Engagement (or CASE building), which will be built atop the Euclid Autopark, will begin this August. This new building, which will initially house key components of the Office of Admissions and eventually various other important student and academic services, has been designed to serve as a gateway to campus for visitors and prospective students and families.
CU-Boulder Director of Admissions Kevin MacLennan says that while one of the major focuses of the building will be on new and prospective students, CASE will also serve as a hub for academic activities and opportunities for students to engage with the campus community.
鈥淭he whole point of this project is to put admissions in a central space on campus with all the other academic and support services that are so important to students,鈥� MacLennan said. 鈥淲hen prospective students come here with their parents to visit, they鈥檒l have the opportunity to see the university in action.鈥�
Campus officials said some of the other offices and organizations to be housed in the CASE building include academic advising, the International English Center, Veterans Services, CU Engage, Pre-Collegiate Outreach and more.
鈥淧rospective students and their parents will be able to see current students engaging with each other, faculty, advisors and staff,鈥� said MacLennan. 鈥淪o they鈥檒l see all the exciting opportunities for students to engage on campus, but most importantly, they鈥檒l see that there is tremendous support for students at CU-Boulder and they鈥檙e not alone when they come here.鈥�
Four years in the making
CU-Boulder Project Manager Stephen Graziano said the project has been four years in the making and everyone is excited to see it get underway.
鈥淐onstruction for this project was originally slated to begin last summer, but we had to put it on hold because construction costs had risen so unexpectedly and dramatically from when the budget was approved to when construction bids were received,鈥� Graziano said. 鈥淲e decided last summer to pause and reassess how best to proceed with the project given the constraint of a fixed budget, balanced with the needs of the university.鈥�
Graziano explained that the team selected a strategy that allowed for construction to begin for the overall building and interior admissions spaces, while deferring completion of other interior spaces until additional funding becomes available.
CU-Boulder Facilities Planner Wayne Northcutt said he expects the university to employ a rolling buildout of much of the space, with other units and programs moving in over time.
鈥淎dmissions will be in there first, along with a lot of other components that will make the building feel like the front door to campus,鈥� Northcutt said. 鈥淏ut many of the other programs that will be housed there will not be there right away.鈥�
During construction
At the beginning of August, construction fences will go up around Euclid Autopark so construction crews can begin staging equipment and doing initial work that will impact commuters, pedestrians and cyclists. Construction is scheduled to start on Aug. 22.
The Euclid Autopark will be open to the public until October, with closures of a few random spaces between Aug. 22 and October, and the garage will be closed for 14 weeks between October and January. During that time, campus visitors will be directed to park in Lot 204 located across the street from Euclid Autopark. Affected permit holders will receive direct correspondence from Parking and Transportation Services regarding any possible relocations.
Beginning in August, pedestrians and cyclists will be rerouted around the construction site with some sidewalk closures. The bike station on the north side of Euclid will be temporarily moved to the southeast corner of the Hellems Arts & Sciences Building for one year. A permanent location for that bike station will be selected at a later time. Construction is scheduled to be completed in November 2017.
鈥淏ecause of its central location and because so many campus constituents and guests rely on the Euclid Autopark, this is going to be a challenging project for our campus community,鈥� said Graziano. 鈥淭he project team will be working to minimize the impact of construction activities to those in the immediate area, but people should expect periodic congestion throughout the course of the project.鈥�
