Though the groundbreaking ceremony was on Dec. 15, construction on the rec center could not begin until Jan. 3.”Groundbreaking is just the ceremony in honor of the first time we turn the ground for the new building,” David said.

The preconstruction meeting during which the subcontractors that are working on the building were present was held on Jan. 3. The architects, design team, mechanical, structural and electrical engineers met to discuss and review the plans for the building. Other subcontractors who will do the roof and ground work met as well.

“We used this meeting to go over the scope of work, the timeline of the project and some of the University rules,” Davis said.

He said the meeting was also used to make sure workers are aware of parking on campus, the University’s new tobacco-free policy and the zero-tolerance policy that Nicholls has towards sexual harassment.

At this meeting, the University issued the notice to proceed, which gives contractors the right to begin construction.

“It starts the clock, which means the contractors have until June 20, 2012 to have the building completed,” Davis said.

This time frame will leave the University about a month and a half to equip the recreation center in case there are delays while building.

“The workers are entitled a certain amount of rain days,” Davis said. “So we’ve got to worry about rain days and any other delays that might come into play during the project.”

Davis said right now the ground is being prepared for the initial construction.

“You can actually see the footprint of the building now,” Davis said.

Workers brought in white sand to build the area to the level needed to prevent flooding. The sand was packed with bulldozers, and afterwards, dirt was brought in to fill spaces and even everything out.

Davis said the next step is to drive pilings into the ground. Then, the contractors can pour the slab.

“What everybody needs to keep in mind is that in this part of the project, you’re not going to see much going on,” Davis said. “It’s a lot of dirt work.”

Mike Matherne, director of campus recreation, said that the rec center is the most positive thing to happen at the University since the first dorms were open in 1963.

“Right now, people are spread all over campus,” Matherne said. “It will be nice to know ‘this is where I go to get my health on.’ “

“We tried to save some time by building the softball fields first,” Davis said. “We would like to get them into operation as quickly as possible.”

Davis said the University decided to build some of the fields ahead of schedule rather than waiting for the bonds.

“We had been collecting these fees for quite some time, so we had a substantial amount of money on deposit,” Davis said. “The football/soccer fields will hopefully be completed in the fall of 2011, and the softball fields will be finished in the following spring.”

The fee that students pay for the rec center construction will most likely continue until the 30-year bond is paid.

Davis said when the recreation center opens, an additional student fee will be added to operate the building.

The rec center will be named in honor of Harold Callais, an entrepreneur who was a member on the Board of Regents. He was a great supporter of higher education and, in particular, Nicholls.

“We thought it was very fitting to honor his memory by naming the building after him,” Davis said.

Students can stay updated on the progress of construction by going online at www.nicholls.edu/recreation/photos. The image updates every 5 seconds with video feed from a camera overlooking the construction site from La Maison du Bayou Apartments.

“We’ve got a good contractor here and a good design team,” Davis said. “We told them early on how important this is for us, and we’ve got an ambitious timeline that we expect to be met.