The construction for the Center for New Media at Salt Lake Community College’s South City Campus is proceeding on schedule and on budget.
Students and faculty are tolerating the construction noise.
The reason for building the Center for New Media is because the different types of media are converging. The entire southeast corner of the campus is being renovated. The cafeteria will be renovated into Salt Lake City School District classrooms and offices. The swimming pool is changing to a two story building with a new library and conference rooms. The gym area will also be renovated into a two story complex with classrooms and labs for the radio and TV.
As with all construction projects there is a considerable amount of noise due to heavy equipment being used, such as backhoes and jack hammers, plus the sound of hammering.
“We are following city ordinances as far as the times that heavy equipment can be used,” Joy Tlou, Director of Public Relations SLCC said.
“It does [the construction] bother me a little bit, the noise and the smell of paint,” Jacob Roth, graphic design student said.
Most students plus the faculty say that the noise is what bothers them about the construction. Other than that there is a wide variety of opinions about the construction.
“I can hear the banging, one Friday it got really bad,” Jesse Wright, open computer lab employee said. “Other than that it’s fun to watch.”
Elise Brummett, who is finishing her generals at South City said, “The noise during class does bother me, and I don’t like how they block doors without telling you.”
Liz Brewster is a faculty member who works in the enrollment office at South City, who has the finish of the project in mind.
“Yes, the noise bothers me, but I’m okay with it because I’m looking forward to the end result,” she said.
The students have had to make some changes because of the construction, for instance the book store had to be moved because the outer wall of the school where it was will be used as a door way out to the New Media Center. All the construction being done to the outside of the campus building is being done on the back south east side. By doing this the school will keep its historic look when driving by on State Street.
“The challenge was to build in the Center for New Media without changing the historic nature of the school,” Tlou said.
The school has a historic nature because it was originally built in the 1930s as a high school. Salt Lake Community College acquired the campus in the 1980s when enrollment in the school went down far enough that the school could not stay open.
“We were lucky enough to get the site,” Tlou said. “The construction will revitalize the school for decades more.”
The biggest challenge in building the center will be to make sure that the building is correctly wired for all the high tech equipment that will be used. All genres of mass communication will be moved into the New Media Center upon completion in 2013.
