New Brunswick, NJ — Len Melisurgo reports in The Star-Ledger/NJ.com that the campus landscape at Rutgers University keeps transforming, with a slew of construction projects that were recently completed or are going through their final touches.
Students returning for classes this semester will notice a new look to College Avenue in New Brunswick, as well as a brand new nursing and science building in Camden and a massive chemistry complex that’s towering over the Busch Campus in Piscataway.
Here’s a look at those projects and other major construction work that’s adding amenities and lending a new appearance to the various Rutgers campuses across the state.
Students returning for classes this semester will notice a new look to College Avenue in New Brunswick, as well as a brand new nursing and science building in Camden and a massive chemistry complex that’s towering over the Busch Campus in Piscataway.
Here’s a look at those projects and other major construction work that’s adding amenities and lending a new appearance to the various Rutgers campuses across the state.
College Avenue Improvements
Project: This is the final phase of a $330 million redevelopment project on the College Avenue Campus. Fifty metered parking spots along College Avenue were replaced with bike lanes, a dedicated bus lane, permanent fencing between Scott Hall and Ford Hall with gaps at crosswalks, and a signaled crosswalk near The Yard.
The project also replaced the worn road surface and infrastructure, including sewer lines, beneath the street. Parking spots were added to other Rutgers lots to make up for those lost on College Avenue.
Status: Completed.
New Chemistry Building
Project: Rutgers says this four-story, glass and brick building on the Busch Campus in Piscataway is “designed to serve and train the next generation of globally engaged scientists and support the needs of the chemical industry in New Jersey and beyond.”
The $115 million facility features flexible research laboratory areas for teaching/teaching support, classrooms and collaborative and administration space.
Status: Almost complete. Construction workers are putting the final touches on this huge building, and the official opening is scheduled for late fall 2017.
Pharmacy Building Addition
Project: Workers are constructing a 57,000-square-foot addition to the existing William Levine Hall-Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy building on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. When completed, the $37.5 million space will house two 300-seat auditoriums, four 60-seat classrooms, simulation laboratories, group study rooms, student commons and administrative pharmacy space.
Status: Construction ongoing; work expected to be completed this semester.
Sports Practice Complex
Project: This $8.5 million project overhauled the outdoor practice fields adjacent to High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway to support the Rutgers football team and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams.
A new, brick-lined entry gate opens to about 364,000 square feet of practice field space, replacing two 20-year-old turf fields and infrastructure. The complex includes all new, natural grass fields, new drainage and irrigation systems and a service building with restrooms.
Status: Completed; opened to sports teams in August 2017.
Life Sciences Building Phase 2
Project: The $59 million Life Sciences Center in Newark will physically link existing Rutgers facilities, providing what the university describes as “opportunities for synergy among all Life Science departments.“
Features include the expansion of the imaging suite and vivarium facilities. This 87,000-square-foot building will house the Biology, Chemistry and Neuroscience departments.
Status: Almost complete. Opening scheduled for fall of 2017.
Rutgers Business School
Project: This $11 million project in Newark involves the revamping of 28,000 square feet of previously unfinished second and sixth floors, including the addition of a new rear entrance to the building to accommodate the expanding business school.
Occupancy includes the displaced MBA Student Services, Graduate Student Services and Executive MBA. The space will also include two tiered lecture halls of about 125 seats, each with full information technology infrastructure.
Status: Complete and open to students.
Honors Living Learning Community
Project: This $81 million project in Newark will create a five-story facility with residential and academic spaces to house nearly 400 undergraduate students, including veterans, older students, transfer students and first-generation college students.
The 155,000-square-foot building sits within the James Street Commons Historic District and will feature mixed-usage including academic spaces, student support functions, departmental offices, long-term bicycle storage, parking for 322 vehicles and 20,000 square feet of retail space.
Status: Construction is ongoing. Scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2018.
Central Sterilization Facility
Project: The existing Rutgers School of Dental Medicine Oral Health Pavilion Central Sterilization Facility Central Sterilization Facility is in the school’s Newark Pavilion on Bergen Street on the “D” Level.
The new $5.6 million Central Sterilization Facility is being constructed in the Oral Health Pavilion on the A-Level. The 104,000-square-foot facility will consist of a decontamination room, prep pack room, sterile storage room and advanced infrastructure classrooms and laboratories.
Status: Construction ongoing
Nursing and Science Building
Project: This new 100,000-square-foot, $62.5 million facility in Camden features what Rutgers describes as “teaching spaces that are consistent with the current pedagogical trends in nursing and science education, including advanced infrastructure of classrooms, specialized simulation laboratories and common space to facilitate key research and educational advancements.”
Status: Complete. Formal dedication is set for Sept. 25, 2017.
Artist Building Renovation
Project: This $3.5 million project involves the renovation of two adjoining row houses on Cooper Street in Camden that were built in 1850, totaling about 13,000 square feet.
The space will house the Rutgers Department of Childhood Studies, complete with updated offices, conference and seminar rooms, a computer lab and lounge space, as well as support spaces for faculty, staff and students.
Status: Construction is underway and scheduled for completion in spring 2018.
Project: This is the final phase of a $330 million redevelopment project on the College Avenue Campus. Fifty metered parking spots along College Avenue were replaced with bike lanes, a dedicated bus lane, permanent fencing between Scott Hall and Ford Hall with gaps at crosswalks, and a signaled crosswalk near The Yard.
The project also replaced the worn road surface and infrastructure, including sewer lines, beneath the street. Parking spots were added to other Rutgers lots to make up for those lost on College Avenue.
Status: Completed.
New Chemistry Building
Project: Rutgers says this four-story, glass and brick building on the Busch Campus in Piscataway is “designed to serve and train the next generation of globally engaged scientists and support the needs of the chemical industry in New Jersey and beyond.”
The $115 million facility features flexible research laboratory areas for teaching/teaching support, classrooms and collaborative and administration space.
Status: Almost complete. Construction workers are putting the final touches on this huge building, and the official opening is scheduled for late fall 2017.
Pharmacy Building Addition
Project: Workers are constructing a 57,000-square-foot addition to the existing William Levine Hall-Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy building on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. When completed, the $37.5 million space will house two 300-seat auditoriums, four 60-seat classrooms, simulation laboratories, group study rooms, student commons and administrative pharmacy space.
Status: Construction ongoing; work expected to be completed this semester.
Sports Practice Complex
Project: This $8.5 million project overhauled the outdoor practice fields adjacent to High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway to support the Rutgers football team and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams.
A new, brick-lined entry gate opens to about 364,000 square feet of practice field space, replacing two 20-year-old turf fields and infrastructure. The complex includes all new, natural grass fields, new drainage and irrigation systems and a service building with restrooms.
Status: Completed; opened to sports teams in August 2017.
Life Sciences Building Phase 2
Project: The $59 million Life Sciences Center in Newark will physically link existing Rutgers facilities, providing what the university describes as “opportunities for synergy among all Life Science departments.“
Features include the expansion of the imaging suite and vivarium facilities. This 87,000-square-foot building will house the Biology, Chemistry and Neuroscience departments.
Status: Almost complete. Opening scheduled for fall of 2017.
Rutgers Business School
Project: This $11 million project in Newark involves the revamping of 28,000 square feet of previously unfinished second and sixth floors, including the addition of a new rear entrance to the building to accommodate the expanding business school.
Occupancy includes the displaced MBA Student Services, Graduate Student Services and Executive MBA. The space will also include two tiered lecture halls of about 125 seats, each with full information technology infrastructure.
Status: Complete and open to students.
Honors Living Learning Community
Project: This $81 million project in Newark will create a five-story facility with residential and academic spaces to house nearly 400 undergraduate students, including veterans, older students, transfer students and first-generation college students.
The 155,000-square-foot building sits within the James Street Commons Historic District and will feature mixed-usage including academic spaces, student support functions, departmental offices, long-term bicycle storage, parking for 322 vehicles and 20,000 square feet of retail space.
Status: Construction is ongoing. Scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2018.
Central Sterilization Facility
Project: The existing Rutgers School of Dental Medicine Oral Health Pavilion Central Sterilization Facility Central Sterilization Facility is in the school’s Newark Pavilion on Bergen Street on the “D” Level.
The new $5.6 million Central Sterilization Facility is being constructed in the Oral Health Pavilion on the A-Level. The 104,000-square-foot facility will consist of a decontamination room, prep pack room, sterile storage room and advanced infrastructure classrooms and laboratories.
Status: Construction ongoing
Nursing and Science Building
Project: This new 100,000-square-foot, $62.5 million facility in Camden features what Rutgers describes as “teaching spaces that are consistent with the current pedagogical trends in nursing and science education, including advanced infrastructure of classrooms, specialized simulation laboratories and common space to facilitate key research and educational advancements.”
Status: Complete. Formal dedication is set for Sept. 25, 2017.
Artist Building Renovation
Project: This $3.5 million project involves the renovation of two adjoining row houses on Cooper Street in Camden that were built in 1850, totaling about 13,000 square feet.
The space will house the Rutgers Department of Childhood Studies, complete with updated offices, conference and seminar rooms, a computer lab and lounge space, as well as support spaces for faculty, staff and students.
Status: Construction is underway and scheduled for completion in spring 2018.
