Improvements touted at SRU
SLIPPERY ROCK — With summer coming to an end and the school year beginning, Slippery Rock University announced Thursday an estimated $6 million in capital improvement projects.
The most notable change students will see on campus is the empty space where the former Kraus Hall was on Main Street. The building was demolished in early summer.
The building was built in 1966 and donated to SRU in 1988. The now-vacant lot will be used as a staging area for renovation projects at Miller Auditorium, East Gym and West Gym. Those projects will begin later this year, and long-term plans for the lot have yet to be made.
Another large capital improvement project the university scheduled for this summer is a $6.5 million renovation to Strain Behavioral Science Building. That project will continue into the fall, a university spokesman said.
Scott Albert, SRU’s assistant vice president of facilities, planning and environmental safety, said that the season had been one of the busiest ever.
“Overall, if you look at the volume of construction that’s been ongoing ... it’ll be close to one of our busiest overall years in the past 20 years,” he said.
Workers also completed the first phase of a $4 million project at Bailey Library, renovating the second and third floor restrooms. The project is also expected to install additional computer lab and study spaces, a redesigned entry way and an expanded cafe area. Officials say the project should be completed sometime in December.
Other changes on campus include renovations to the second floor of Rhoads Hall; improved accessibility to Gail Rose Lodge; the replacement of the loading dock at Swope Music Hall; and asphalt maintenance and seal coating at several parking lots.
The school also made upgrades to classrooms and technology, continuing the move to LED lighting, upgrading eight classrooms with items such as laser projectors and digital audio controls, and replacing more than 700 computers and 350 Wi-Fi access points in academic buildings.
