At the thought of construction, one of the first words that haunt one’s mind is inconvenience, and although in many instances this is the case, the end product is nearly always a sight of better quality and beautification.In the last edition of the News Argus, a brief overview of the next two phases of the construction that will be taking place on the main campus. Phase I, which is taking place in the spirit of campus, is affecting nearly everyone- every student, faculty, administrator, and even visitor. The heart of campus has been gutted out in hopes of unifying the campus with a pedestrian mall and clock tower. This phase is also intended to create a picturesque image of the campus. Phase II, on the other hand is, more or less, only affecting those rams or visitors whose classes are housed in the Hall Patterson and R. J. Reynolds buildings. Beginning in January of 2004, the parking lot dividing the two buildings will be non-existent, as well as the lot attached to Hall Patterson. Jorge Quintal, director of facilities management, assures those who are concerned that it will be an inconvenience, but it is definitely only for a temporary basis. “We will close this parking lot for about six months, until about June. The parking lot won’t be removed, but it will be closed, during construction. There will be no way to get in (those doing construction) if the lot remains there.”The two aforementioned parking lots hold a fairly large amount of spaces and the question of where those who park there will be moved has risen. Chief Willie Bell said that he and Quintal are working together to find a solution to the faculty parking issue, but that’s going to be a tough matter.”Forty-two spaces are a lot to replace when it’s faculty and staff and when they have the least of all [parking spaces],” said Bell. One solution raised was to create a temporary lot somewhere in the vicinity of Hauser or RJR. “We’re gonna try to cut and trim some spaces in the RJR lot to help…we’re gonna try to make room over there if it permits us,” said Bell. For a short term, this lot will be closed to make way for the new entrance into campus which runs straight through from Stadium Drive to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Once the new main entrance way is completed, drivers will be able to enter the campus but according to Quintal, if a driver wants to exit the campus this same way, he or she better think again. “We will not be able to come out [exit]…we will certainly be able to use it as an entrance…but this is a very busy intersection and for us to be able to come out, there’s some changes in traffic patterns that will need to occur to MLK before they (City Officials) will allow us to do it.” Chief Bell added that he thought it would be hard to control because people are naturally going to want to exit the way they entered the campus, but he and Quintal are working on a solution to this issue. How long the exit will be useless is unknown, but the process to get it active could endure for years.So why the construction, why now? The idea has been in the making for a while. Reconstructing of the campus has been in the planning process for about four years according to Quintal.”Probably it happened …back around ’99 when the Office of the President did an assessment of the facilities, completed by Eva Kline and Associates. The office of the president hired this consultant to do an assessment, both quality and quantity, of our physical space on campus and the recommendation of that study was a 10-year capital plan. That was then divided into two phases- phase one and phase two… And that was then included in the bond referendum that was approved by the voters, phase one was, in 2000 and that’s when the project was funded.”Not only is the main site of campus blocking off passageways and getting a full make over, but right across the street, one of the main roads for those resident students and even faculty and administration is being blocked off. Vargrave drive has been blocked off for several weeks since the beginning of the 2003 fall semester. This has also created an inconvience as it is causing many students, visitors, and the administration connected with the Rams Commons, Wilson Hall, and the Anderson Center to find alternate routes to their destination. Students and faculty have been dodging the cones blocking the crossing of the bridge at the end of Vargrave close to the Anderson Center, but Chief Bell said that is not a good idea. He said, although nothing seems to be going on, the bridge is definitely closed for a good reason.”Vargrave has several problems with it,” said Bell, “the biggest issue with Vargrave is that the bridge is not safe…it needs repair.” The work to the Vargrave bridge falls under the hands of the city and, therefore, Chief Bell has no control over that area.”I don’t know how long it’s going to take,” he added. “I was hoping that it would be repaired by December. I just believe bridge work is tedious work…I think it’s going to be at least until the end of the year, before it’s repaired, I can’t say for sure.”While the main campus may not look the best now, but in the end it should be something that every ram is proud of. “When you guys come back [in January 2003 and again in August 2004] all that area will be completed, though, and that’ll be gorgeous…but we’ll be starting some other construction then!”