Work on the 5th floor of 1616 where faculty, staff, and doctoral students will office is nearing completion. The space has been painted, lights and ceiling tiles are installed. The next construction phase on this floor will be the installation of carpet and the glass-wall system. The architects were correct in explaining that the use of special materials (paint, lighting, and ceiling tiles) would enhance natural light to the center of the building. Work has begun again on the first floor where classrooms, labs, and student space are to be located.

The planning team continues to meet regularly to organize details regarding parking, telephones, and security for the new space. The next meeting will be with the movers who will tour all existing iSchool spaces around campus (SZB, CDL, FAC, and PCL) to begin to plan for the move sometime in July.

Here is a construction update from 1616 Project Manager, Bart Kleiman (UT System Office of Planning and Construction Services) on work to the 1st floor of 1616 (the designated iSchool classroom and lab area.) You will note that while UT faculty and staff begin their holiday on Dec. 20th, work on the building continues.

20 Dec 08 - Concrete will be poured in the north side of the first floor to fill in a void in the concrete floor.  To prevent migration of odor, the air handling units for the entire building will be shutdown from 6:00pm Friday, 19 Dec thru 6:00am Monday, 22 Dec. We’ll post more pictures as soon as they are available.

22, 23, and 24 Dec 08 - Sheetrock ceilings will be installed and finished in the first floor elevator lobby.

22, 23, and 24 Dec 08 - The entry bay of the parking garage will be sandblasted and ADA striping painted.  Garage patrons will still be able to park in the garage above the first ramp.

24 Dec 08 - Northeast plaza will be poured.

29 and 30 Dec 08 - The first floor lobby terrazzo will be refinished in the evenings.

29 and 30 Dec 08 – Moving crates for OFPC staff will be delivered to the 6th and 7th floors.

29, 30, and 31 Dec 08 - Stainless steel will be installed in the first floor elevator lobby.