With eight projects currently underway or in the works, it’s no wonder SMU and the surrounding area feel like one big construction site.
This is especially true of the east side of campus, where nearly all the sites exist, including the student-funded renovation of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.
“This is going to have a bigger effect on the SMU community [than] I think anyone realizes,” Director of Recreational Sports Judith Banes said. An addition 115,000 square feet is scheduled to open in the fall.
Banes said she plans to occupy the new space on Sept. 14, but it looks like the Cinco Center will stick around for a while. Engineering, which also occupies the building, will move into the new J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building, opening in fall 2006.
According to Geoffrey Orsak, dean of SMU’s School of Engineering, more than $10 million has already been raised and another $5 million is needed to complete the project.
Orsak says the facility, which he says is scheduled to break ground in May, will be cutting-edge and environmentally-friendly as well. The building will be compliant with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“We are leading the way on the Embry building being the first LEED building in Dallas,” he said. Fitting, since it will house the Environmental & Civil Engineering department.
The Embry building will finish out SMU’s new East quad along with the new James M. Collins Executive Education Center, tentatively scheduled to open in June.
The center will house Executive Education as well as the KPMG Institute for Corporate Governance and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking.
“It will be a magnet to bring business people to the campus,” Dean of the Cox School of Business Dr. Al Niemi said.
The first course taught in the facility will be a one-month “crash course” in business for students who are not pursuing business degrees. Coined by Niemi as a “mini BBA,” about half of the program’s participants will be SMU seniors.
Niemi expects about 10,000 visitors a year to pass through the facility’s doors and enjoy the view of Dallas Hall from the three-story atrium.
One might even get a glimpse of the many Greek house construction projects as well.
Completion of the Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity houses on Dyer Street is scheduled for the coming fall, while the additions to the Sigma Phi Epsilon house should be completed later in the semester, SMU officials indicated.
Kappa Kappa Gamma is also in the midst of planning for a new house. Upon completion of the semester, crews will tear down the existing residence, making room for a new house to open in fall 2006.
“The three-story house will be nearly twice the size of the existing one,” Liz Healy, a sophomore member of the sorority, said. She added that next year Kappa Kappa Gamma plans to occupy the Zeta Panhellenic house during construction.
Off campus, commuters will still have to battle the Lovers Lane closures for at least a few more months.
Though the delays on Hillcrest should clear up by April, the city doesn’t expect to open up Lovers Lane until October. The project was recently expanded to include pavement improvements between Dickens and Thackery, according to a University Park construction website.
And just up the street, students will soon have a new location to grab a bite in Schlotzsky’s old storefront. Goff’s Hamburgers will open once the move from the Lovers Lane location, which closed Tuesday, is complete.
