The Observer, February 1, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 15
Four whole years: Construction craziness
I admire this campus' commitment to continual improvement, but sometimes it feels a little excessive. For instance, my past four years here have been plagued with the constant grinding and banging of unending construction.
It really started during Welcome Days when a big highlight was hearing the fabulousness of what would soon be the new Village at 115. I hope you forgive me when I say that the flame of excitement was torn out of my mind and squashed to the ground when at 6 o'clock the next morning, clanking came careening through my window bolting me straight awake like the proverbial bat out of hell.
I thought the winter would offer some sanctuary from the incessant noise, but since the thermostat in my room created nigh-unbearable sauna-like heat, I was forced to keep the window open through the winter. The construction workers must have been conspiring against me because, of course, they were behind schedule and worked extended hours through the winter. There was hope, however, for soon I would be moving a mile away to the lovely, scenic Southside of campus.
At this point it became apparent that various gods from various religions were all conspiring against me because more construction began on the Adelbert Road bridge. Rinse, lather, and repeat, but this time the process was slowed way down.
It was not enough to take twice as long, but then halfway through the project the construction workers up and left the country, leaving behind what appeared to be a mess of LEGOs left by a nine-year-old who just discovered an ice cream truck had drunkenly crashed into his front yard and Popsicles were now raining from the sky.
What came next can simply be described as a blur of poorly placed fencing, cement barricades, and detour signs. For a period of time, I was convinced that the Case logo debate was scrapped and replaced by a bright orange barrel. The Baker building was torn down, cutting off all straight and easy paths to the quad for a year. The resulting lack of classrooms seemed to inspire the building of the new Mandel Center, plaguing me for yet another year with construction noises.
We inspired other people to do work as well, apparently. The city of Cleveland is now working on their Euclid Corridor project, and, so UH is not left out of the fun, they arbitrarily tore down three old buildings contributing to the mess and mud along Euclid.
Like I said before, I do enjoy the whole continuous improvement, but I am currently left with an incomplete feeling. I feel like all this constant improvement for the future will constantly leave the present members of the campus community feeling as if their experience with this institution is lacking, like a cupcake with that little swirl of icing on top removed. We just need some time of consistency to relax and enjoy a whole campus before we start the next excavator-on- excavator mud wrestling.
