As the summer heat has continues to hit the triple-digits here at Ozarks, construction nears its end on campus. According to U of O Business Manager Darrell W. Williams, "We are pushing to have Trustee Hall, the General and Organic Chemistry labs, the Fitness Center, and the Aerobics areas ready by the end of next week." He said painting, floor coverings, light fixtures, science fume hoods, and cabinet installation are all underway in Smith/Broyles, and work on parking lot paving, concrete sidewalks, irrigationi and landscaping should also be in progrress in just a few days. Fitness equipment and Trustee Hall furnishings are scheduled to arrive on Monday. August 8.

It's hot. Really hot. So maybe it's a good thing the construction work on campus has progressed from outside to inside as the thermometer shoots up! In the Seay Student Center expansion, electrical work and sheetrock installation are done, as well as installation of fire protection piping. They are finishing out the sheetrock and painting at this very moment (see photos below).

Across the street at the new Trustee Hall, sheetrock and painting has finished, as well as the installation of glass in the exterior doors. They have also set the mechanical units, installed the cabinets and millwork, and installed ceramic tiles in the bathrooms.

Students in the fall can look forward to big improvements in the Smith/Broyles General Chemistry Lab and Organic Lab, as well. Demoliton of the old cabinets, hoods, and ceilings is complete; roof curbs are installed, likewise the stainless steel vent hood ductwork, floor drilling for plumbing of the new cabinets and work stations, and plumbing.

Let's just hope they get the air conditioning going pretty quick as well!

Things continue to shape up on campus with the ongoing construction projects, according to U of O Business Manager Darrell Williams. "More stud walls are going up in the conference center this week," he said. "The brickwork should be completed by the end of next week, and window frames and glass are being installed." He added that the next step will be sheet rock, which should start going up in the next couple of weeks.

With a run of nice weather, construction continues at a rapid pace here on campus. At the expanded Seay Student Center, ductwork is going up inside, brick and block on the exterior, and as the pictures show below, the massive heating and air-conditioning unit has been put in place and connected.

Across the street at Trustee Hall, fire protection work is underway, as well as electrical, door frames, and exterior sidewalks, as well as a parking lot curb.

Tired of getting sand kicked in your face by bullies at the beach like the famous 97-lb. weakling? Has the Freshmen 15 ruined your waistline? Have you taken the term “couch potato” to a whole new level?

Don’t despair. According to Dean of Residential and Campus Life Sherrie Arey, good new is just around the corner. This summer will see the completion of the U of O’s physical fitness facility, a part of the annex being built onto the Seay Student Center.

The facility will include a 2,211 sq. ft. fitness area, complete with a wide array of work-out equipment ranging from cardio-building equipment like treadmills, stationary bikes, and stair-masters, to a full range of different weight machines. There will also be a small section of free weights. “The equipment is all computer-integrated so that users can track their progress,” said Arey. “With 10 sports and 180 athletes, there is a huge need to have adequate facilities. At the same time, people who just want to go in and get on the treadmill for awhile won’t have to deal with that aspect of it if they don’t want to. It’s all state of the art but user friendly.”

The center will be operated by student workers under the advisement of the athletic faculty and staff. “It is my hope that the student workers who run the facility with the guidance of professional staff will be knowledgeable enough about how the equipment works to help tell people what machines to use for their individual needs,” said Arey.

The annex will also include a 987 sq. ft. aerobics/yoga room. Director of Physical Education Activities Sally Wood said, “I have been teaching physical education and health for the past twenty years, and the new fitness center will be ideal for teaching a variety of classes – Tae Bo, Zumba Dance, Body Sculpting, Physical Fitness, Aerobic Fitness, Mind/Body Expressions, Yoga, Cheerleading, Weight Training, and Physical Wellness. It will have a nice wooden floor, making it perfect for these uses. It also has an adjoining storage area for yoga mats, small weights, etc.”

The annex also has two office spaces, and men and women’s handicap-accessible locker and shower rooms.

Dean Arey said she sees this annex, along with the fact the Seay Student Center will have WiFi in the fall, as making the student center an “all-in-one” “go-to” place in ways it has never been before. “You can have meals here, stick around, do homework, work out. And I’m hoping the new fitness center will make it more convenient for students to be healthier.”

Bo Funderburk, Assistant Director of Residential Life and Coordinator of Recreational Activities, said the new facility meets two central needs for the U of O. “I think this new facility gives students options they have not previously had. Right now the cardio equipment is limited to a single treadmill and one bike. The space is predominantly devoted to free weights. We have unintentionally segregated our female students and athletes simply due to lack of space and equipment. These machines for the female athletes more like what they would like working on and pay for a gym membership to use.”

Funderburk added the new space will solve that problem, and give students options for cardio-respiratory training that don’t involve waiting in lines. “The new treadmill, bikes, and elliptical machines bring us a truly well-rounded fitness center,” he said. “Additionally, Dr. Bruce Elmore and Prof. Brett Stone’s physical education classes will benefit from the fact the machines can be used for heart rate monitoring and track conditioning.”

He said Chad Floyd, the U of O’s certified athletic trainer, has been doing athletic re-hab work using a small office, but that will change now. “This new facility will help him out tremendously for re-hab,” Funderburk said.

Floyd was on the committee which helped narrow down the choices on the athletic equipment, along with chair Brett Stone, Bruce Elmore, Jimmy Clark, Sherrie Arey, and Funderburk. “We tried to put together a fitness center that would meet the needs of all individuals that would be using it,” Floyd said. “We have needed something like this for a long time and I will be glad to see it in use. With 10 sports and 180 athletes, there is a huge need to have adequate facilities.”

The center will use the card-access system for security reasons but be available to anyone on campus who needs it. It will be open for use for the fall 2011 semester.

Sunny weather makes for happy construction! According to U of O Business Manager Darrell Williams, the annex to the Seay Student Center and the new Trustee Hall dorm are right on track, with ductwork going up in the Seay annex, insulation board added to the exterior, framing and inside plumbing and electrical, and a good start on the roof to get the whole thing in the dry. He added block and brick work are to begin in the next couple of weeks.

Across the street at Trustee Hall, workers have set the Trustee sign on the front of the building (see photo below); they are finishing up the block and brick work, adding the limestone caps along the top, and setting door frames. He said sheetrock will be going up in the next couple of weeks.

With the holidays over, it's back to work for the crew of James H. Cone of Little Rock. According to Ozarks' Business Manager Darrell W. Williams, the renovation of the Seay Student Center is at the point where workers are finishing the slab in the fitness center, have poured the slab on the second floor, have done exterior and interior framing, plumbing, have installed some heating and air boxes, drainage work around the south and west sides of the building, the fire protection line, and electrical work. The 14,000-square-foot addition to the student center will include a new health and fitness center, a new community conference center, and increased dining capacity for students. 

Across the street at Trustee Hall, the roofing and flashing is underway, as well as brick and block work, electrical, fire protection, and the stair case.

"Somewhere between groundbreaking and ribbon cutting comes a little known ceremony in construction called 'topping out.' It occurs when the highest or last structural element is about to be swung into place.  Long before steel and concrete were used in construction it was the trees that man used to construct his shelter.   

 The 1000-year-old topping out tradition started in Scandinavia when workers would place an evergreen tree on the highest structural element of construction as a symbol the workers' 'respect for nature's contribution to building process.'  This tradition continues as a sign of good faith and well wishes for the building and its inhabitants.  The custom spread across Europe and was brought to America by the construction workers and tradesmen that literally build America. 

 For Ozarks this is our third Topping Out ceremony, 1^st was Robson Library in 1996, then in 2002 Walker Hall.  I am so happy to be apart of this ceremony that maybe smaller than those two major building on our campus but is just as significant.   As the frame of the building is now clearly in place it isn’t hard to image how the new space we will have for events.  Just think this time next year you will be able to see Joe Hoing riding his stationary bike and telling students the evils of white flour and sugar.  And by that time this ceremony will be long forgotten but the spirit of this day will live on and with these signatures even when students say “Joe Who”  our time at Ozarks will live on. 

 I would like to invite the members of our construction team to sign and become a member of our Ozarks family forever also."

                                                                           -- from Dean of Residential & Campus Life Sherrie Arey's opening remarks during the Topping Out ceremony Dec. 1st.

Thanks to perfect fall weather and a lot of hard work, progress continues rapidly on the new campus construction, both the 14,000 square foot addition to the Seay Student Center Expansion and the new residential Trustee Hall. Below, the framework for Trustee Hall is going up, and the steel girders of the student center expansion take shape. The expanded student center will include a new health and fitness center, a new community conference center and a larger cafeteria.

Construction activity has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks on the U of O campus. First and second floor framing is happening at Trustee Hall, and the Seay Student Center expansion is now to the point of pouring the slab, erecting steel, plumbing, and conduits for electricity, according to U of O Business Manager Darrell W. Williams. The next step will be excavation on the west side to add foundation drainage. Keep checking back!

(Below: Construction workers work on the slab at the Seay Student Center by hand and by Riding Trowel. Across the street, workers continue to frame the future dorm.)