The University of Connecticut will undergo plenty of construction this summer, including projects in parking lots, the athletics district, Horsebarn Hill, inside Homer Babbidge Library, Whitney Dining Hall and the Nathan Hale Inn. (Avery Bikerman/The Daily Campus)
The University of Connecticut will undergo plenty of construction this summer, including projects in parking lots, the athletics district, Horsebarn Hill, inside Homer Babbidge Library, Whitney Dining Hall and the Nathan Hale Inn.
“Whenever possible, the university tries to schedule many of its projects during the summer when there are far fewer students and employees on campus,” University spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said. “[This is] both to minimize inconvenience to those people and because we don’t want to interrupt regular services during the academic year.”
The UConn Board of Trustees voted in September 2018 for university officials to rebrand the university-owned Nathan Hale Inn into Graduate Storrs, part of the Graduate Hotels group.
The rebranding will include major renovations, according to Reitz, and will open in late 2019.
“This accomplishes two key university goals: To have a quality hotel in Storrs that is operated privately at no expense to the University or state,” President Susan Herbst said. “This will be an extremely welcome addition to the campus.”
A transit connector will be added to W Lot, according to University Planning, Design and Construction (UPDC). As well, roughly 700 parking spaces will be added to “Parcel D,” across from the Innovation Partnership Building.
Sidewalks and lighting will be added along Horsebarn Hill Road, according to UPDC.
Major renovation of level B and the plaza level of Homer Babbidge Library have been deferred for future review, according to UPDC, but there will be minor staff area improvements during summer 2019.
The upper level of Whitney Dining Hall will be renovated and complete by the fall 2019 semester, according to UPDC.
W Lot will be completely resurfaced and repaved, according to Reitz.
Most of the traffic detours over the summer will be associated with the athletics district.
Ashley Anglisano is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached by email at ashley.anglisano@uconn.edu.
