Fences and construction equipment have replaced the typical student groups enthusiastically handing out flyers on Locust Walk.
The Walk is currently undergoing renovations, which will be completed in the fall, according to a statement by Facilities and Real Estate Services.
The 3600, 3800 and 3900 blocks will receive new underground utilities and paved surfaces.
Construction on the 3600 block of Locust Walk — where Steinberg-Deitrich Hall stands — will be completed by the end of the summer in time for the fall semester. However, the 3800 and 3900 blocks — with access to Jon M Huntsman Hall, Class of 1920 Commons and Harnwell College House — will continue into the fall.
Signs will be posted at the site this week to explain the purpose of the construction, Facilities and Real Estate Services spokeswoman Jen Rizzi wrote in an email.
Temporary walkways have been provided by the contractor for the safety of pedestrians.
College Junior Sierra Park-Chavar walks through Locust Walk to get to her summer job at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “Locust [Walk] looks like doomsday right now,” she wrote in an email, adding that it is almost unrecognizable, full of “huge holes, ominous holes.”
Summer construction is meant to minimize disturbances to the community, but the last time the Walk was renovated setbacks caused construction to continue late into the fall.
In 1994, construction to repave its then-17-year-old surface was delayed by negotiations.
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