A tentative timeline for the two phases of the Metro State Backfill Project has been set.

“The College community needs to know that this project is coming soon,” says Sean Nesbitt, director of facilities planning and space management.

According to Nesbitt, the draft schedule was the general contractor’s first attempt to lay out the timeline, working around the academic calendar.“The timeline uses weekends and breaks as much as possible. Now we’ll work directly with departments on refining it the best we can, so as to not be too much of an inconvenience.”

In addition to creating more classrooms, the project will consolidate as much as possible the three schools’ programs into certain buildings and equitably distribute space among the schools. When finished, Letters, Arts and Sciences will be in Central Classroom; Professional Studies in West Classroom; and Business in the Administration Building.

Phase I of the project will begin in November with preconstruction activities, and start in earnest in January of 2011 with construction on the 4^th floor of the Administration Building. As this phase proceeds, it will include construction and relocations in the Central Classroom, West Classroom and King Center as well.

Preconstruction activities for Phase II will begin in February of 2012. Actual construction won’t begin until April, after which the Student Success Building should be finished. In addition to construction of classrooms, this phase involves moving a number of departments into the Central Classroom after the current occupants move to the Student Success Building, as well as renovations and/or relocations in the Administration Building, Arts Building and West Classroom.

A six-month break between the end of Phase I in November 2011 and the beginning of construction activities in April of 2012 is planned. “We’re pretty confident that there won’t be any overlap of the two phases and that faculty, staff and students will get a break from all the work and activity,” Nesbitt says.