Early construction start catches Coastal staff, students off guard

A project that was scheduled to begin next week at Coastal Carolina Community College got an early start - and caused problems for students, faculty and staff on campus.

A $4 million project to install additional covered walkways throughout the campus was set to start construction next week, but staff and students returned to campus from spring break Monday to find that the contractor had already begun.

"I was completely surprised to see what had occurred ... It's been a little chaotic today," said David Heatherly, executive vice president at CCCC. "There was no notification from the contractor that they were going to start early ... It's just a lack of communication."

As a result, the campus wasn't prepared to reroute the traffic from students, faculty and staff around the construction in an effective manner.

"Unfortunately this project was supposed to start next week, and our intent was to get notification out to our faculty, students and staff and make preparations regarding some of the inconveniences that would be experienced due to the project," Heatherly said. "We had hoped to have all the rerouting paths in place; that way we wouldn't have to go through what we went through (Monday)."

In order to accommodate disabled students who could not get around the construction, several classes had to be moved, Heatherly said.

"We'll do things like that anytime we have an event such as this," he said.

The contractor's staff kept busy Monday putting together temporary walkways and ramps and organizing detours around the construction.

"They have been very helpful in stopping the work when we needed it to stop for safety reasons," Heatherly said. "For the most part I've seen a good deal of cooperation from our students, faculty and staff. I think they knew this was something unexpected."

CCCC student Diane Thornton said she heard other students saying the construction area "looks like a war zone."

Upon arriving on campus Monday Thornton said she was confused about how to get to where she needed to go, and once she got there, how to leave.

"I couldn't' figure out which way to walk," she said. "How about some signs - detour, alternate route? ... They didn't give notice of it."

While the construction may make it a little more difficult to get from one class to another, Thornton said she's a proponent of any project that helps the school.

Ken Becker, a University of North Carolina at Wilmington student through CCCC's extension program, said while he hasn't had to deal with the construction he hopes to see similar projects in other areas of the campus in the future.

"We'd like to see more covered walkways out here, especially when it's pouring down rain like it has been in the past few months," he said.

The additional lighted, covered walkways that are being constructed will not only allow students to move between buildings while staying out of the elements but will also be more secure at night due to the lighting, Heatherly said.

The covered walkways will also house various wiring that previously had to be run underground. Moving the wiring into the roofs of the walkways is a proactive effort, Heatherly said.

"In the past years we've had a lot of problems with wring in the ground ... With this new system ... we have conduit over the ceilings of the walkways so that we can connect the buildings," he said. "It's a much more maintenance friendly system; it keeps things out of the ground. Every time we get in the ground here it seems that we cut something ... getting in the ground is expensive."

Along with installing additional covered walkways, the project will also address some cosmetic issues such as replacing the exterior of several buildings to provide a more uniform appearance on the campus. Several building will have the river rock paneling on the exterior replaced with aluminum panels, particularly the buildings along Western Boulevard, Heatherly said.

The walkway project is the last of several projects that used monies from a state bond referendum that was passed in November 2000. All construction associated with this project is expected to be completed in about 18 months, weather permitting, Heatherly said.

Contact Jacksonville/Onslow government reporter Molly DeWitt at 910-219-8455 or mdewitt@freedomenc.com.