Photo provided by Elizabeth Nelson

Students returned to campus this semester to find parking lot U and parts of lot P unavailable for use due to ongoing construction on a pipeline that runs from the northwest side of the Bell Center, through the baseball field, and across lot P towards Murchison Residence Hall. Walking paths between the east and west sides of lower campus have also been intermittently unavailable.

Jim Baker, director of Facilities Services, said that they are prioritizing the work on the baseball field at the moment because of the upcoming Spring season. He hopes that the baseball field will be covered by Feb. 5. Afterwards, they will focus on the work in the parking lots, which includes adding vaults that will make the pipes more easily accessible in the future. Once they have commenced work on the vaults, much of lot P will be reopened.

“I’ll probably keep the tennis court side blocked with debris and material, but you can at least drive on the parking side, which is the inner-island side, and I’ll restore the bell center side of the rest of that parking lot,” Baker said. “The Bell Center/baseball side of that lot will be open to park.”

According to Baker, the construction is on track.

“Surprisingly, I’m going to say that we have encountered no surprises. In fact, it’s been less than expected,” Baker said.

with reporting by Kathleen Creedon