Busy stretch of University St. will close on Tuesday

Monday, September 1, 2008 12:21 PM CDT

By Michele Steinbacher
msteinbacher@pantagraph.com

NORMAL -- A busy stretch of University Street on the Illinois State University campus will close Tuesday -- prompting the town to reroute traffic for at least two years.

Construction of ISU’s $50 million Student Fitness and Kinesiology and Recreation Center will divert motor and foot traffic in the south campus area until a scheduled completion date of July 1, 2010.

A fence will surround the site of the 170,000-square foot building. The site will encompass the Dunn-Barton and Walker residence halls, which are being demolished, cross University and reach around McCormick Hall on the south corner of the ISU quad.

University will be closed between Hale and Dry Grove streets.

The parallel stretch of northbound Main Street, on the other side of the Walker Hall complex, won’t close during construction.

Dunn-Barton and Walker halls are set to be razed in the next two weeks, said Rick Kentzler.

“Exactly when the backhoe is coming, I can’t say,” he said, noting the teardown would take several days.

Materials from the halls will be recycled as fill for use in construction of the new building.

River City Construction, the general contractor, will set up fencing around the site before starting demolition. After the buildings are down, crews will begin preparing the site, digging a footprint to get started on underground wiring, he said.

They are expected to work until the ground freezes, said Kentzler.

For pedestrians, the sidewalks along the north side of Dry Grove and the sidewalk along the south side of Hale Street will remain open outside the construction fence. The north-south sidewalk on the west side of Walker Hall also will remain open, although short, periodic closures of sidewalks will be necessary during the project.

Motorists need to be aware that Dry Grove and Hale streets will remain open for traffic, but will be reduced to one lane during periods of utility excavation.

Also, parking spaces in front of McCormick Hall along University Street will be eliminated.

Just south of that construction site, plans call for a multilevel parking deck. Tennis courts located there remain open through September, but they will close for construction in October, said ISU spokesman Jay Groves.