Numerous Summer Construction Projects Set for Penn State Campus

As sure a sign of summer in the Centre Region as Spikes baseball or the opening of Welch Community Pool, construction season has begun on Penn State’s University Park campus.

The university’s Office of Physical Plant has developed an interactive map to track the numerous construction and renovation projects going on this summer. Some of the projects will impact vehicle and pedestrian traffic and building access.

Projects already under way on McKean Road that will impact traffic. The one-way portion of McKean Road between Mifflin and Bigler Roads will be closed through early June for utility work. McKean Road between Bigler Road and the Greenberg Building will be closed through July for stormwater system improvements. There is a temporary entrance to Lot Orange C from Hastings Road. Access to East Area Locker Room, Holuba Hall and the Orange F parking lot will be via the access drive north of Nittany Apartments. The intersection of Bigler, Hastings and McKean roads will remain open throughout the summer.

Construction & Renovation

• Rec Hall, White Building and McCoy Natatorium will undergo construction through the end of the calendar year to incorporate central access points in compliance with the university’s policy on access to athletic and recreational facilities. All three will remain open with temporary entrances. Rec Hall can be accessed from Curtin Road at the main gym; White Building can be accessed from the HUB Parking Deck side; Entrances will be available for McCoy Natatorium from Bigler Road and an ADA entrance near the outdoor pool.

• Renovations and construction will continue throughout the summer at the West Campus Steam Plant, Whitmore Lab and Lasch Building. Construction also will continue on the Data Center and Water Treatment Plant. The renovation of Steidle Building, which began in 2014, is expected to be substantially complete by early June.

• Construction for the final phase of the Intramural Building expansion began in May and will continue through next summer.

• Construction of a new residence halls in the East Halls and North Halls complexes began in March and will continue through next summer. Renovations to Findlay Commons in East Halls will continue through December.

• The Morgan Academic Center will consolidate its services and move into the Greenberg Building in June following the completion of a $7.2 million conversion of the former ice pavilion into a 32,000 square-foot facility for the operations of the support center for student athletes. The space in the Bank of America Career Services Center that served as one of the Center’s locations will be renovated throughout the summer. In the fall, some Counseling and Psychological Services  counselors who had been located on Calder Way in State College will return to the core campus in this space.

• Utility work for a major renovation and reconstruction of the Agricultural Engineering Building will close Shortlidge Road between Park Avenue and Curtin Road for about two weeks beginning in mid-June. Renovation of the historic part of the building and reconstruction of the rest will begin in mid-August and last through early 2018.

• Replacement of the water tower located in the north end of campus will continue throughout the summer.

Other Projects

• New parking access control system that will display the number of spaces available will be installed in all campus parking decks.

• Holuba Hall will have its turf replaced, the Bryce Jordan Center will upgrade lighting, and the outdoor track surface will be replace.

• Sidewalk closures for repairs and utility work are planned for Burrowes Road, near the Nittany Lion Shrine, the ramps at the Information Sciences and Technology Building, and between Whitmore and Pond labs.

• Numerous minor renovation projects are planned for Hammond Lab, Nittany Apartments and Panda Express in the HUB. 

• OPP will replace 68,681 square feet of rubber roofing on buildings across University Park, including Thomas Building and Agricultural Sciences & Industries and also install 4,200 linear feet of roof edging to improve fall protection and increase safety