Photo by Jason W. Spencer
Jason Spencer
Reporter
February 10, 2006
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Blowers Boulevard still not ready for public
use. Photo by Jason W. Spencer |
Although the site construction on the new convocation center seems to be at a halt, Milligan’s administration says otherwise.
According to President Don Jeanes, the site construction of the building is not occurring as fast as originally hoped but is progressing well.
“We have encountered some problems because of an infrastructure that is extremely old,” Jeanes said.
According to Jonathan Robinson, Milligan’s facilities service manager, the infrastructure of any building being erected includes domestic and fire system water lines, natural gas lines, electric lines, fiber optic lines, phone conduits and other plumbing lines. An infrastructure also includes steel structures that must be assembled before the concrete for the foundation can be poured.
The foundation has not been poured because the weather has been too cold. In order for concrete to set, “the average temperature must be above 40 degrees,” Robinson said.
Nevertheless, sections of the convocation center’s infrastructure, such as water lines and electrical preparation, have been completed. East Tennessee Sprinkler Co. finished the fire hydrant service on Jan. 25.
As part of the site construction preparation, lines included in the infrastructure have been placed under Blowers Boulevard, the main road running through campus. College officials want to place electrical lines running from McCown Cottage to McMahan Student Center under Blowers Boulevard, Jeanes said.
In an Aug. interview, Jeanes said construction on Blowers Boulevard was planned to be finished before Christmas. Road construction was scheduled to start in late September, but actually started in early November.
Since Blowers Boulevard is owned by the city of Elizabethton, college officials have asked the city to help cover expenses related to road construction.
“It is unlikely the city will assume all of the cost (for underground electrical lines),” Jeanes said, “but the question is how much will they cover.”
Even though Elizabethton City Council has yet to determine how much, if any, funding they will contribute to the construction of the road, Milligan plans to continue with plans of completing the road, Jeanes said in a Jan. 27 email.
It will be another two to four weeks before the road can be paved and reopened to campus traffic.
A date of completion has not been set due to unpredictable weather conditions, Jeanes said.