Living up to its reputation as an eternal construction site, Penn's campus has several facility projects underway and scheduled for the upcoming year.
Included are plans to both renovate areas -- including Hill Field, Annenberg Plaza and Williams Hall -- and construct new buildings, including the Life Sciences Building, the School of Engineering's Skirkanich Hall and a Veterinary teaching and resource facility.
Currently fenced off and stripped of landscaping, Hill Field is undergoing an approximately $2 million transformation to become Hill Square.
Predicted to cause some problems during move-in, the renovation is scheduled to be completed this fall.
"The hard part for us at Hill... this year we're going to have to move the students in by the sidewalks," Director of Housing and Conference Services Doug Berger said, noting that 400 of the college house's 500 residents will likely move in on the same day.
Calling the project an "upgrade," University architect Charles Newman noted that the renovated area will feature a recreation field and an improved walkway. Lining the walkway will be 22 bench sculptures engraved with quotes to commemorate 125 years of women at Penn.
Situated behind the Annenberg building, Annenberg Plaza will include new gathering areas once the approximately 20,000 square foot area is renovated and adorned with tables, new granite paving, landscaping and lighting.
"It's going to be a much more user-friendly plaza than it was before," Newman said of the project, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of September.
Williams Hall renovations are also aimed at creating a more user-friendly atmosphere -- workers are revamping the building's ventilation system and replacing the windows.
While some construction was completed over the summer, several departments situated in Williams have been temporarily moved to a facility on 34th and Market streets and the former Hillel building.
Construction will also begin on the new Life Sciences building this October, according to Newman. When completed, the $57 million project will add 57,000 square feet of laboratory space to the Biology Department.
The building plans -- which will place the new facility both in the midst of the BioPond Garden and near the other Biology Department facilities -- has been met with some controversy.
University officials said they plan to incur as little damage as possible to the BioPond area, but garden workers predict that over 40 trees and a variety of plants will be removed due to construction.
Although plans are not yet concrete, officials said a new Veterinary School teaching and research facility will also be constructed once the crowded intersection of 38th Street, Baltimore Avenue, Woodland Walk and University Avenue is reconfigured.
"We have been working with the city... to come up with a reconfiguration of that intersection," Newman said, adding that the new plan will "improve traffic flow and at the same time create a site contiguous to the vet school."
Also in progress is the multi-phase construction of Skirkanich Hall, which will house Penn's Bioengineering department. Over the summer, Pender Laboratories was torn down to make room for the new facility.
According to officials, major construction will gear up again next spring. Upon completion, Skirkanich Hall will add 30,000 square feet of wet laboratory space.
