Construction progresses despite snow

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Although the recent snow storm seemed to slow down construction, the new residence hall is still making progress. Just two months ago, the second floor was being established, and now, the third and fourth floors have been constructed, with the most of the framing being completely covered with wooden walls.

Currently, windows are being installed, with drywall and metal roofing expected to be finished within the coming months. The outside of the structure will soon be covered with brick facing, which will give it the unique Pacific University look. The laying of bricks is expected to begin later this month.

A majority of the work will now take place inside the future residence hall, with the giant crane now removed from the construction site.

The design-build team of Walsh Construction and Mahlum Architects were selected by Pacific, along with Inici Group, to take on this 60,000 square-foot project, which held its groundbreaking ceremony in October 2013. The building, which still remains nameless, is expected to house 200 students. It was originally thought of as a replacement to Clark Hall, but was instead built to house the growing student population, which has exceeded 1,700. Clark Hall is set to remain in service for at least a few more years.

Walsh Construction built Berglund Hall, which opened its doors in 2007 to the Colleges of Education and Arts & Sciences and is home to the Berglund Center for Internet Studies. Mahlum Architects helped design Pacific’s most recent residence halls, Burlingham Hall (2006) and Gilbert Hall (2008). The new dormitory, like Burlingham and Gilbert, is being built with an LEED certification in mind. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a set of rating systems from the U.S. Green Building Council designed to assess sustainability and quality. The university is seeking an LEED Gold Certification, the second highest certification threshold in the system.

Construction will continue as scheduled from Mondays to Saturdays, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The residence hall is currently set to open in Fall 2014. Updates on the Residence Hall’s progress can be found on Boxer Briefs or on Pacific University’s website, www.pacificu.edu.

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