Construction starts on West Campus, Duck Pond Field closed off

Jackie Park, Reporter

Matt Dull, assistant vice chancellor for finance and operations was interviewed by Dave Blanks of University Communications Feb. 11 about the changes that will come with construction on campus.

On Thursday, residents of West Campus woke up to a large number of parking spaces in Stadium Lot coned off to make room for the new buildings and parking deck.

Parking spots in Stadium Lot were not resold this semester to make sure those with parking permits can still park in the lot. The new parking deck will make up for the loss of spots, Dull said.

“Our parking deck, it’s a 475-space parking deck, it will be finished by August of 2019,” Dull said. “So for the fall of 2019, we’ll be back up to our parking count for that Stadium Lot area.”

Construction also started on Duck Pond Field Thursday, with trees being cleared and the area fenced off.

“So I hope folks enjoyed being on Duck Pond Field last week, and the 60-degree weather, and this week we’ll begin fencing that area off to start construction,” Dull said.

All of these steps prepare the area for construction of the parking deck and two new buildings, Dull said.

App State also completed the financial close for the project with Choate Construction on Thursday. The close is very similar to closing on a house, when a person agrees on pricing and other details for the project, Dull said.

“That helps kind of put a bow on everything from a financial and legal perspective on the project,” Dull said.

Choate Construction began its time on-site Friday, Dull said.

“They are in Boone and getting ready for all of the work to begin this week,” Dull said.

Due to multiple interview requests, University Communications records weekly podcasts with Dull about the West Campus construction project to provide to news organizations. The Appalachian has requested interviews with Dull.