A walk around campus this semester may lead to encounters with more than just Colgate community members. Construction crews are busy working to complete various projects in all corners of the university’s grounds. 

One of the projects currently under construction is a new athletic facility, which will be named after the Class of 1965, the most generous class of donors in recent years. The new location will house training rooms, locker rooms and offices for the Colgate hockey, lacrosse and soccer teams, as well as an ice hockey rink.

“It’s an exciting facility. I think this is for anyone who is on a team or, and this includes most people, who are interested in physical fitness or co-curricular activities,” Interim President Jill Harsin said.

Another upcoming project is the creation of a new Career Services building, an addition to campus that President Harsin explains is long overdue. The new building will find its home in a more central location on campus and will include conference rooms, an event room and study areas.  

“One of the best things Colgate has, I think, is its network of alumni, and Career Services uses that very well. We really are in a terrific place in terms of thinking about how students can harness what they want to do and what they’re interested in and make a career out of that. I think having a new facility for that and having it where it’s so central to everything will be great,” Harsin said. 

One of the most centrally located renovation projects is taking place at the scaffolding-clad James C. Colgate Student Union, where workers are repairing the building’s aging roof. Assistant Leader of the Colgate Thirteen Casey Konys was initially worried about whether the renovations would interrupt his group’s rehearsal time.

“I was concerned about construction mostly because we use the Hall of Presidents (HOP) for our practices and we didn’t want to have to find an alternate location. But thankfully our practice space isn’t going to be out of commission while they’re doing construction,” Konys said.

While Konys is glad that these renovations went smoothly, he still has reservations about the way construction progresses around the university.

“Overall I think construction at Colgate goes very slowly. I think Colgate has these huge plans to get done, then they only get a quarter of it done,” Konys said. 

Interim President Harsin remains optimistic as she shares her view of the construction.

 “I think the construction projects strengthen the program here. I think they will put Colgate in a stronger place,” Harsin said.

Contact Brianna Delaney at [email protected]