Construction Update: Aggressive schedule makes up rain delays in Leadership Center construction
By Vickie Hampton

After rain delays in the early stages of construction, an aggressive recovery schedule has recaptured 30 to 40 percent of the delay in the construction of the new Leadership Center at the corner of Westview Drive and West End Avenue. In late August, two crews with two cranes began working six days a week, 11 hours per day to meet the completion deadline of spring 2005.

Over the next few weeks, two of five sequences for steel erection will occur. Work in sequence one has advanced through erection of the structural steel and the light gauge framing, and continues through exterior and interior wall framing for the conference center. This also includes plumbing, sprinkler, electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) rough-ins.

Meanwhile, in sequence two, columns, beams, joists and metal decking are being put in place in the on the first floor and the auditorium, where there will be riser seating.

On the inside of the Center, 95 percent of the interior finishes and furniture selections have been made. Campus Operations teams, including the telecommunications and information technology departments, are implementing technological components that will result in a state-of-the-art facility for the College.

By the first week in September, the brick veneer will be applied to the conference center. There are a couple of small brick sample walls on the site near the driveway of the King Chapel, although the official exterior mock-up is under construction and should be ready within a few days.