Construction and Renovation Updates
May 27, 2011

New Residential Center

Web Cam

The walls of all buildings are going up!  The CMUs (cinder blocks) are regularly being filled with grout to make the walls solid, which is why a concrete truck continues to be on-site.    When the walls are high enough, the concrete for the first floor will be poured, probably in mid-June. 

Demolition at the former conference services office has begun, to make way for a breezeway from the new area to the lower dorm courtyard.  Crews also completed the demolition work beneath the west senior resident apartment, where the boiler is housed.  The old boiler has been removed and a new one will be placed later in the summer (this does not affect hot water, as that is on a different system).

The re-roofing of a few dorms in the lower dorm area has begun and should be finished by June 3.  This part of the project will help accommodate the photo-voltaic array that will provide power to the new residential center.

Also currently taking place is the building of a retaining wall on the north side of the staging area.  This area will become a parking area when the project is complete.  Crews building this wall will soon move to the west end of the project to build a retaining wall at the western-most placita (“gathering” on the diagram). 

On Tuesday, May 31, a big crane will come to campus, staying at the track until crews are ready to place the pre-cast 2nd floors of the buildings.  It is anticipated that this will take place in the first part of July.  Pre-cast flooring is much quicker to install (four days rather than two to three weeks), and doesn’t require as much shoring or decking.  Once these are placed, crews will add about 4” of concrete to the floor, in which the radiant floor heating will sit.

Storm water and sewage piping, connections to the cisterns, and other utility work continues to take place and should be complete by the end of June. 

The building structures of this LEED Silver residential center, including walls, glass, and roofs, will be complete and heated by mid-November, at which time crews will move inside to do the interior work.  Rooms are slated to be open for use in summer 2012.

Crews may be on campus before 8:00a, however “beeping” movements and other large equipment noise will not start up until 8:00a. Note that large vehicles will be entering and exiting campus from Camino Cruz Blanca, using the main entry road, and the road to Lowers.

Aerial View of Staging Area
Upper Floor Plan
Lower Floor Plan
Seminar Building Lower Floor Plan
Seminar Building Upper Floor Plan
Site Plan

The Betty and Norman Levan Hall

Levan Hall, home of the St. John’s College Graduate Institute is complete.  Staff and tutors are moved in and classes are taking place. 

Levan Hall was planned as a LEED Silver Certified building.  However, it is likely it will reach a Gold level certification!  The official certification will take several months. 

Below are current pictures of the building.

Levan Hall floor plans (Adobe PDF documents):

Lower level
Main level
Top floor

Irrigation Work

Near the entrance to campus, new irrigation pipes have been installed to service the plantings along the road and sidewalk leading to the SAC driveway.  A new automatic watering system is in use on the soccer field, and is working well.

Photos of Summer 2006 Hardscape Renovation and Fishpond Repair:

Fishpond Placita Facing the Bookstore	Upper Placita Outside ESL	Placitas and Pond with Working Waterfall

Click here for past construction updates