Construction Alert: July 19, 2006 

After extensive evaluation and study by flooring experts, it has been determined that several sections of the recently installed terrazzo floor in the area of the new Medical School Lobby corridor, the Faculty Conference Room and the Chancellor's Courtyard will need to be replaced. 

In order to take advantage of the comparative quiet of the campus during the summer months, the work will be done over the next 4-5 weeks. While the work will be disruptive and noisy, it must be done, and there is no effective alternative to beginning the work as soon as possible.

Beginning Friday afternoon, July 21, major changes impacting access to the Medical School and the Chancellor's Courtyard will be implemented (see map for reference). 

Following is a summary of these temporary changes:

  • The new Medical School Lobby and entrance WILL BE TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR 4-5 WEEKS. There will be NO ACCESS to the building through the medical school lobby during this construction.
  • The corridor connecting the Medical School Lobby to the hospital WILL BE TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR 4-5 WEEKS, and all pedestrian traffic will be directed to the north corridor (ie, the Library corridor).
  • The Faculty Conference Room will not be accessible for 4-5 weeks and all events scheduled there will be relocated.
  • The old Medical School Lobby will be used for construction access; while the Bookstore and coffee kiosk will remain open, approximately half of the old lobby will be cordoned off for construction access. 
  • THE OLD MEDICAL SCHOOL LOBBY DOOR WILL BE FOR EMERGENCY EXIT AND CONSTRUCTION USE ONLY.
  • ALL PEDESTRIANS ENTERING THE BUILDING FROM THE WEST MUST USE EITHER THE WEST HOSPITAL ENTRANCE OR THE MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT (STUDENT AFFAIRS) ENTRANCE. 
  • Access to the Chancellor's Courtyard, the Golding Conference Room and the offices of the Deputy and Vice Chancellors will be via a doorway off the main hospital corridor, adjacent to the chapel.
  • Access to the IS help desk will be from the north (Library) corridor.


We are aware that this is a significant inconvenience, but one to which there are no alternatives: the terrazzo floor in the corridor leading from the new Medical School Lobby, east to the hospital, has been the subject of scrutiny and study since it was installed earlier in the project. 

Terrazzo was selected as a flooring material for this high traffic area because it is highly durable, and thus, the appearance of a number of superficial cracks and chips in the surface shortly after installation was a cause for investigation. Consultation with the contractor and outside experts (who took samples, resulting in those gray patches) revealed that the terrazzo had improperly adhered to the subflooring, resulting in hollow spaces.  This was determined to be unacceptable for the long term, and so the floor in the corridor and several contiguous areas will be replaced, at the contractor's expense.

Please continue to visit this website for specific information as it becomes available, and to direct visitors there as well.