Since starting university in 2009 there has been constant building work on campus and as most of us are all too aware it is very rarely finished on time. There was outrage last year as the work on the LICA building and Country South Lecture Theatre dragged on well into quiet period disrupting our precious revision time with constant construction noise.
The Alexandra Square rejuvenation project is no exception. Posters around campus remind us that the whole project was intended to be finished by March 2011 and still we have no use of the Underpass. However, only just over a month late (good by Lancaster University standards) and we have free roam of Alexandra Square. Those 12-hour days slaving in the library in a desperate attempt to actually pass my degree will no longer be hounded with the hammering of machinery or by the noisy banter of the builders and their afternoon games of football, which were my main distraction in exam period last year, when my room unfortunately backed on to the County South construction work.
For those of us lucky enough not to have any exams and who avoid having their head stuck in a pile of books over these sunny days at the end of term, work completed kind of on time has allowed use of the steps outside the Learning Zone. My main concern when work was looking like it was not going to be completed was missing out on lazing about and having lunch on the steps in the sun.
Yes, the project isn’t completely finished. We still have to catch the bus from the Chaplaincy Centre and the lack of the Underpass causes some disruptions to the bus routes. And yes, it wasn’t exactly finished on time but Alexandra Square is open for our enjoyment in these all-important months of summer.
Compared to other building projects that well overshot their deadline for completion Alexandra Square’s one month over due completion is something to be celebrated. For example the Carter Charles Building that was suppose to be completed by September 2010, when students returned to university, was not complete until the end of last term. This, however, did not prevent seminars and lecturers being scheduled in the unfinished venue. To my knowledge the Alexandra Square project has cause no such disruptions.
We should look on the positive and see that Alexandra Square was almost finished on time, sort of. Let’s see if the same can be said for our ever impressive looking new sports centre.
