BY EMMET SULLIVANThe Summer NorthwesternAfter the pomp and circumstance fades and yet another graduating class of Northwestern goes into the real world, the Evanston campus becomes deserted as the presence of students diminishes. For school administrators, the lack of students makes Summer the best time for major construction projects on campus to occur.At least four different construction projects are currently taking place on the Evanston campus, with others occurring around Ryan Field or downtown.Most project managers did not return calls to the Summer Northwestern, but they did pass along information about the different projects going on around campus.The largest project at the moment is the construction of the Richard and Barbara Silverman Hall for Molecular Therapeutics & Diagnostics. The building will be at 2150 Campus Dr. and connect to the Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self Assembly at 2190 Campus Dr. – next to Annenberg Hall – and the Arthur & Gladys Pancoe Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Life Sciences Pavilion.In March, the DAILY reported that Chemistry Prof. Richard Silverman helped pay some costs for the building out of the royalties he will receive from Lyrica, a prescription drug that treats chronic nerve pain. The drug earned more than $1 billion in 2006.Silverman Hall will have five floors, each with labs and student offices. There will be enough space in the building for 245 faculty, staff and research assistants, according to Facilities Management Design and Construction.”The new institute will house a world-class biological molecular imaging facility designed to study specimens,” Chemistry professor Thomas Meade told the DAILY in March.One of the most significant aspects to this project is the loss of the parking lot behind Annenberg, soon to be covered with grassy areas. However, Cook Hall parking lot, adjacent to the Lakeside Athletic Field near the Lakefill, will be expanding to make up for the loss of parking space.The building alone will cost an estimated $63 million and be completed by summer of 2009.On the south end of campus, a fifth floor is being added to Crowe Hall, 1860 Campus Dr. Crowe, adjacent to Kresge, was completed in 2003 and houses offices for faculty and staff in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The original construction of the building included plans for a fifth floor that was never built. Alan Cubbage, vice president of university relations, said he did not know why the fifth floor was not constructed in 2003, although the cost of adding the floor then was a contributing factor to the final decision.The renovation to Crowe will cost $6 million and be completed by early 2008.The lacrosse and soccer fields on the north end of the Lakefill are also under construction this summer. Currently, the north end of the Lakefill houses lacrosse/soccer fields on the southwest quadrant, a field hockey field on the northwest quadrant and intramural fields on the entire east side. According to Facilities Management Design & Construction, the goal of the project is to add a new synthetic turf soccer and lacrosse field, new bleachers, new field lighting and a new intramural field with natural turf. The project began on June 12, when the the athletic fields and the east section of the Cook Hall parking lot were fenced off. After Commencement, phases one and two of the project began.The first phase of the project, to be finished in September, includes redevelopment of the existing intramural fields. The north field will become the new soccer/lacrosse field, complete with lights and FieldTurf artificial turf. FieldTurf is a synthetic grass with a rubber and sand base that results in a playing field that drains quickly and can be used more heavily than natural grass. The new field will be used for club sports, varsity sports, intramurals and recreation.The second phase of the project is the remodeling of the existing Cook Hall parking lot. The last two phases are planned to start in September and finish in December. In these phases, the old soccer/lacrosse field will be turned into additional parking for the Cook Hall parking lot, bringing the total of parking spaces to 700. In the new design, the south intramural field will move slightly to the south. The field will be re-seeded and closed until the grass fills in. It is expected to re-open in Spring 2008. Until the new turf is ready, the existing lacrosse/soccer field will remain open.Though the field hockey field is the only field to remain in place throughout the construction, the project should not disrupt any games or practices for any sports, according to Cubbage. Intramural teams who normally play on the IM fields in the east will not be displaced as long as the construction goes as planned.”The hope is the construction is finished by fall,” Cubbage said. If the construction is behind schedule, Cubbage mentioned other locations where IM teams could play.”There is always Long Field, the other intramural field, although that would be a bit of a space crunch,” he said.The construction of the IM field will also affect the location of the stages for Dillo Day. The new field takes up the former stage area. Cubbage said the stage for the concert will be moved slightly south.”(The new field) is just going to square off with the existing field hockey field,” he said. “(Dillo Day) would be in the southeast quadrant.”Other construction projects in the works this summer include renovations to Tech Drive, just north of the Technological Institute, the softball fields by Ryan Field, Annie May Swift Hall, and the west entrance to Tech.

Reach Emmet Sullivan at [email protected].