Construction Projects Under Way at Angelo State

A groundbreaking for Plaza Verde is scheduled at 10 a.m. Aug. 24 at the northeast corner of the University Pavilion. The new 400-bed residence hall will be built on the existing parking lot between the 10-story Concho Hall and Van Buren Street. After the first week of classes, Lot 13 with its 255 student parking spaces will be fenced off for construction. Parking will be open to residence hall dwellers as available in other campus lots.

Additionally, work is beginning on the Campus Green Project that will start with landscaping on the south side of the University Mall from the former location of University Hall and to Van Buren Street. Earth removed from the Plaza Verde site will be utilized in the landscaping, which will include jogging trails, gathering areas and public art when completed.

John Russell, director of facilities planning and construction, said, “Plaza Verde and the Campus Green Project will enhance our status as a residential campus. The landscaping project will ultimately create an environment we think will be one of the most pleasant in San Angelo.”

In addition to those two projects, work on creating an Information Commons in the Porter Henderson Library is expected to be completed by November while renovation of the Hardeman Building is anticipated to be done by January. The expansion of the Center for Human Performance to include a student recreation facility is projected for completion by the end of the spring semester. At the end of the 2011 fall semester, demolition work will begin on Concho Hall. Due to abatement issues, Concho Hall will be torn down in a traditional manner rather than imploded like its sister high rise.

The first phase of Plaza Verde will create a three-story, 400-bed facility north of the University Mall and east of Concho Hall at a projected cost of $35 million. The second phase of Plaza Verde will begin during the abatement and demolition of Concho Hall. The new residence hall when fully completed will be a complex of nine residential buildings plus a clubhouse/office building. Total projected cost of Plaza Verde I and II is $62 million.

The Campus Green Project is budgeted at $1.85 million. Renovation costs are $4.38 million for Porter Henderson Library and $250,000 for Hardeman. Demolition of Concho Hall is expected to cost $2.5 million.