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St. Olaf begins new ring road construction

By David Gonnerman '90
July 3, 2006

St. Olaf College continues to move forward with plans to relocate a portion of the campus ring road near the Old Main building as part of site preparation for the new Science Complex in the southeast portion of campus. Construction has begun and will be completed by the start of the new academic year in September.

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The new road will climb up to the east side of Old Main (the route shown here) and down to the north side of Norway Valley, allowing the college to turn the parking and roadway to the west of Old Main into "green" space.
Moving the road will eliminate the roadway and parking between Holland Hall and Old Main and in its place allow the creation of a pedestrian mall, or "green" area that will include outdoor teaching spaces and areas planted in native vegetation.

"The college is taking numerous measures to minimize the impact of this construction," says Assistant Vice President for Facilities Pete Sandberg. "More than 500 plants have been transplanted from the construction zone, and trees that are of sufficient size and quality will be lumbered for use in the new Science Complex," he explains. A different area of campus (approximately twice the size of that impacted by the construction) has already been planted with native trees to offset any loss. And special efforts are being taken to preserve more than 90 trees in the immediate area of the construction zone. The project also will include a series of ponds designed to clean and reduce -- or even eliminate -- runoff.

TALKING TO THE NEIGHBORS
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Pete Sandberg, assistant vice president for facilities at St. Olaf, gave multiple presentations earlier this year -- to the St. Olaf community and to neighbors -- about the new ring road.
Sandberg fielded numerous questions from college employees and neighborhood residents during a series of information sessions held earlier this year. One of the most frequently asked questions regarded the status of the sledding hill. "The road will not affect the sledding hill," assures Sandberg. "The road will cross on the flat terrain about 100 feet east of Old Main, well to the west of the edge of the hill." The new construction also will have little impact on running trails. In addition, the area will see a net gain of 12 parking spaces, plus new facilities for parking bicycles.

Also of note is the fact that the new road will not be visible from Lincoln Street. "We are planning to hide the road from the town as much as possible along here," explains Sandberg. "Rather than simply building berms to hide it, we're actually dropping the grade of the roadway 5 to 6 feet where it crosses the lawn." At night, lights for the road will focus downward, in contrast to the globe lights that have been used previously.

Other changes to the campus include deconstructing Flaten Hall in a fashion that recycles most of the materials. The adjoining Art Barn, built by St. Olaf Art Department founder Arnold Flaten in 1932, will be re-built on another site.

The new Science Complex, construction of which will begin in January, will greatly enhance disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning in the sciences and mathematics at St. Olaf. The building is being designed with the goal of obtaining gold certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system of the U. S. Green Building Council.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.