Scharbauer Hall nearing completion

The 74,000-square-foot Scharbauer Hall is still a few months away from its December 2009 estimated completion date, but it's hard to tell from across the Campus Commons.

The behemoth structure, which looms over the east side of the Commons in front of a bubbling Frog Fountain, will house the John V. Roach Honors College and AddRan College of Liberal Arts, starting in the Spring 2010 semester in January. It will have LEED certification as a "green" building.

Construction crews have completed the brick work around the perimeter and are working on the top stone harness piece the rest of August, said Harold Leeman, major projects director for the TCU Physical Plant.

Many of the interior details are being checked off the list too. The insides are all painted, save for the fourth floor. Even the ceiling tiles are in place on the first floor. No fixtures or furniture are installed yet, but that will come toward the end of the fall semester. Weather-appropriate landscaping around the building will be planted in December.

Meanwhile, the courtyard between Scharbauer and Reed Hall will be the final items completed, Leeman said. Reed's west side has new windows, but the sidewalks, garden circle and landscaping remain. Reed Hall itself will close for the Spring 2010 semester and open again in August.

In other construction efforts:
- Milton-Daniel Residence Hall, which closed in May for renovation, has gotten a new storm drain in recent weeks, and a new electrical system will be tied in possibly as soon as next week. Milton-Daniel is being renovated to house students of the Honors College. It is estimated to reopen in August 2010.
- Colby Hall will likely follow Milton-Daniel in renovations, and Sadler Hall may be in line for future upgrades.
- The Physical Plant will pursue existing building LEED certification for the Brown-Lupton University Union in September, essentially earning the "green" status on the back end, rather than prior to completion. "We're collecting data from some the meters in the kitchen and air conditioning units and what "green" chemicals are used to clean it," Leeman said. "Basically, it will get LEED status based on how the building operates, as opposed to how it was constructed."