Three major campus construction projects are on schedule to meet planned completion dates, but an expansion to Sommers Hall at the Mount Vernon Campus will not be ready by fall 2001 as GW waits for building permits, GW officials said.

Without the permits, the additions planned for Sommers Hall will not be ready for incoming students next fall, said Grae Baxter, executive dean of the Mount Vernon campus. The hall was originally scheduled for completion next summer.

We are on track and not discouraged, Baxter said. It is a gorgeous addition that will add 183 beds in a suite style.

Considering reasonable delays for obtaining permits, Baxter said the project should still be complete by the end of 2001. Along with the extra housing capacity, the expansion includes a fitness room and meeting room.

GW is still waiting for one permit to continue construction at the Marvin Center on 21st Street, but plans to finish by the Jan. 2001 completion date, said Roger Lyons, executive director of Facilities Management.

The expansion will include a reception area for students, satellite office for the University Police Department and more space for the GW Bookstore, Betts Theatre and the third-floor ballroom.

GW needs a Sheeting and Shoring permit – which allows digging below street level to install gas, electric and phone lines – to continue construction.

We have filed for the Sheeting and Shoring permit, Lyons said. D.C. permits are sometimes good, and sometimes bad. But I expect the project to continue on schedule.

Demolition work for the third-floor ballroom, conference room and Betts Theatre are complete, according to GW’s Web site.

(Pending the permit approval) we are on schedule and ready to go, said Mike Gargano, assistant vice president of Student and Academic Support Services.

Construction for a new Elliott School building at 1957 E St. is on schedule for its fall 2002 completion date, Lyons said. The building will host eight levels of academic facilities, a 12-story residence hall and three levels of parking with 200 spaces, Lyons said. The building will also house the Elliott School of International Affairs and Executive Education programs and will add 201 beds to GW’s housing facilities, according to University’s Web site.

Construction on the Health and Wellness Center, at 23rd and G streets, is on track for completion spring 2001. The 183,000 square-foot complex will house two gyms, each with two basketball courts, said Lawrence Rebel, project manager for the site.

There will be a three-lane lap pool, and a racquetball suite with four racquetball courts and two squash suites with three squash courts each, Rebel said.

There are special craftsmen that specialize in building squash courts that we have brought in on this project, he said. There will be no other building like this on the East Coast.

The courts will also accommodate indoor soccer and hockey. A three-lane jogging track will be suspended at the perimeter of one of the gyms.

This track is made with the same material as they used down in Atlanta for the Olympic track, Rebel said.

The athletic facility will have a unique format in which levels are stacked on top of each other, rather than spread out on the same floor because of space limitations on campus – something that will make the building unique compared to facilities at most other universities, Rebel said.

With most buildings of this type, a university has plenty of space to build out, Rebel said. On this site, we are limited so we have to stack facilities on top of each other. This makes it a challenging build.

A fitness area will include free weight fitness areas with sound and video systems about four times larger than the current Smith Center area. A multipurpose area with nearly the same amount of floor space of a basketball court will be used for aerobics, dance, martial arts and other activities.

Special brickwork will deaden the sound in the aerobics rooms, Rebel said.

Rebel said the project will meet the expected March 31, 2001 completion date.

Two other construction projects at the Mount Vernon Campus are also scheduled for completion soon.

Construction crews have worked all year to revamp athletic fields to install an NCAA regulation-sized soccer and softball fields and add 12 new tennis courts – six of which will be indoors – and parking facilities.

The athletic fields will be completed by this fall, Lyons said.

Baxter said GW is also installing high-speed internet connections for students and faculty at Mount Vernon that will connect them to the University network.

With (new high-speed lines) we will be up to Foggy Bottom standards in residence halls and academic buildings, Baxter said.

Workers are digging conduits around the campus to accommodate the lines.

It looks like we are digging the Grand Canyon over here, Baxter said.

The individual wiring of the non-student buildings may not be ready for the fall, Lyons said.