Children’s Research Institute – The interior renovations on the first and second floors are progressing nicely. The east bank of elevators is nearing completion. The wraps for the doorframes should arrive March 10th. The second floor lobby is expected to reopen on April 1st with an overall completion date of June 17th for both lobbies.

Being unable to attain room 227 has seriously hampered completion of the second floor renovation. It remains unavailable for abatement and has caused the reordering of the other renovation tasks.

MB Kahn, the CRI contractor, has replaced the structural steel construction crew with another company (Buckner). They have two 100 tons cranes on site; one on each side of the structural steel. It is hoped that Buckner can recover the time lost by the previous company and deliver a higher quality product. At the beginning of December the project was 34 days ahead of schedule, now it is only about 14 days ahead.

The installation of the 2nd floor (CRI) slab has been delayed due to the extremely low temperatures, but will be placed as soon as possible. The crane will then move to the west side of the building for about two weeks.

Congestion on the construction site has reached a critical level. It is absolutely imperative that no pedestrians enter the site. There is a trackhoe working within the MRE footprint, a backhoe trenching in the CRI site, a pile driver and a helper crane setting sheet pile and a manlift for the welders. Sumter Utilities is expanding a manhole. When they have moved off-site Kahn will continue with the relocation of the chilled waterline and installation of the new storm drain. Cullum is on site doing mechanical and plumbing roughins on the slabs and the break through areas and in both lobbies; Eldeco is doing the electrical roughins in these areas. Asbestos abatement is continuing on the first floor. So you see, pedestrian traffic is a dangerous and annoying distraction, particularly at this time. Please do not use the back doors of BSB or cut through the construction site for any purpose.

I would like to make a very important clarification to the minutes from the BSB/CRI Occupants' meeting of December 19, 2002. I should have said, "We are trying to raise money to upfit floors 2 through 6 during the contractual construction period. The money is not in hand at this time. We would very much like to upfit every floor by the substantial completion date of May 2004 but must secure funds before any additional construction can take place". Please accept my apologies for implying that the money was currently available.

We are reminded that commencement is rapidly approaching-- May 16, 2003. I ask that all commencement organizers remember that the first floor lobby will not be available. No construction work will be performed the day of graduation and the site will be made as presentable as possible but access to the main lobby will not be possible.

Food service for BSB is nearing a resolution. It is hoped that some kind of fresh food service can be provided in the 4th floor lounge until the CRI is completed; a space for food service is planned on the first floor of the new CRI. A request for bids for food service will be issued soon.

Part of the existing first floor, BSB, men’s locker room will be renovated to house the new Proteomics Center, directed by Dr. Dan Knapp. The center recently won a contract for $15,000,000. After much discussion with representatives of the College of Medicine, the College of Graduate Studies and the College of Dental Medicine it was determined that enough lockers could be relocated to serve the needs of the students of these colleges. The men’s room itself will remain primarily unchanged except for the relocation of the door and the removal of one stall.

In conjunction with these renovations it was suggested that a rather significant refurbishment of the ladies locker room be considered. The suggestions are to :

• maintain the current number of lockers
• repair the nonfunctioning lockers
• install a cardkey reader for access
• upgrade the lighting
• refurbish the flooring
• paint
• upgrade the existing shower stall; no need for an additional one
• repair the heat

Mechanical Room Expansion – Pile driving for the MRE is complete. Underground utility relocation, however, continues to hamper progress. The slow and tedious process of locating fiber optic cables, chilled water lines, telephone lines, lighting for G lot and the ‘B’ feed electrical bus duct has been very difficult, but will progress as soon as possible.

Attendees - Bud Cooper, Hank Harrison, Cliff Harvey, Leslie Kendall, Bill Lavoie, Mac McClinton, Dwayne McMillan, Dr. John Raymond, Paula Seelbinder, Larry Wells and Laura Walters