REXBURG, Idaho — It's a giant construction zone on the BYU-Idaho campus this summer, reports Physical Plant Director Charles Andersen. Students are already moving into the new Jacob A. Spori Building, with the addition to the Mark Austin Building not far behind. Other projects will take longer and a few are just getting started, with completion dates varying from later this year to late next year.

Photo by Michael Lewis

Construction workers put up the steel frame of the student health center, scheduled for completion in spring of 2004. The new 22,500-square-foot, two-story building will nearly double the space for health and counseling services.

Photo by Michael Lewis

Work continues on the family and married student housing project. The plan is to have five to seven of the buildings completed by the end of this year. When finished at the end of summer 2004, the 10-acre project will include 16 buildings.

The following is a short description of the major building projects on campus:

Spori Building: The 44,000-square-foot building is completed and will be dedicated Aug. 22 by President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency. The building, which will house the communication and art departments along with an art gallery, will be open for classes for the Fall semester.

Family Housing: Work will continue on the family and married student housing project located at the southeast corner of Seventh South and First West on the south side of campus. The plan is to have five to seven of the buildings completed by the end of this year. When finished at the end of summer 2004, the 10-acre project will include 156 two- and three-bedroom units in 16 buildings.

Thomas E. Ricks Building: Work began in early June on the new classroom building located southwest of the Hinckley Building and south of the floral demonstration gardens. The building is expected to be finished by late fall of 2004. The 56,200-square-foot building will include 23 classrooms, 58 offices, four secretarial reception areas and an animal science laboratory. It will house the Department of Mathematics; Department of History, Geography and Political Science; Department of Psychology; and Department of Sociology and Social Work.

Floral Demonstration Gardens: Most of the area of Thomas E. Ricks Gardens will soon be closed for the next two years and will reopen in the summer of 2005. Because the gardens will become a focal point of campus with their location forming a new quad between several major classroom buildings, the area will require new sidewalks, lighting, sprinkler systems and redesigned flower beds. The picnic pavilion and gazebo on the north end remain open.

Student Health Center: Work is progressing on the new Student Health Center located just west of the tennis courts on Second East. The building should be enclosed by winter and the project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2004. The 22,500-square-foot, two-story building will nearly double the space for health and counseling services for students. The present health center is located in the Clarke Building and the counseling center is in the Kimball Student and Administrative Services Building.

Other building projects on campus include renovations and additions to existing buildings. To the Benson Building is being added 25,000 square feet of new classroom and office space and 15,500 square feet of greenhouses. Renovation to the Smith Building closed it for the summer.