Improvements and construction to Beauregard Hall, the three new residence halls, the proposed recreation center and new campus police station are being pushed for the new year. So far, projects to renovations and construction have been on schedule and meeting deadlines since Katrina delayed many projects.

“Progress for Beauregard Hall is in the design and development phase,” Michael Davis assistant vice president of administration, said.

The $19.4 million project for the three new residence halls are scheduled to be completed and ready for the start of the fall 2008 semester.

The first building located by Ellender Hall will be finished for Aug. 1, while the two located by La Maison du Bayou are scheduled to finish for Aug. 8.

“Progress for Beauregard Hall is in the design and development phase,” Davis said.

Currently, there are reviews, drawings and suggestive changes being made by architects. After this part of the phase, the faculty teaching in Beauregard will then have an opportunity to give feedback and suggestions to renovations to the building.

“We are going to contact faculty in the chemistry and biology departments that work in the building to see if there’s anything that needs done to improve the facility,” Davis said. “After everything is reviewed and approved by the state, there is optimism renovations will begin in October.”

Another change to be made to the campus in the near future is the relocation of the University Police station to Calecas Hall and the opening of a food operation in the current police station.

While the initial motivation for moving the police department from its current location was to build a food outlet in its place to service the area around Betsey C. Ayo and Gouaux halls, Davis said it also served another purpose – to accommodate the growth of the University police department on campus.

“The primary reason was to allow us to have a food service operation on that side of the campus,” Davis said. “There’s nothing to service the students in Ayo, Gouaux and Family and Consumer Sciences. Also, the university police had been terribly cramped for quite some time, and when it was built, we just had a very small police force here.”

Presently, there are no plans to demolish the current police department building until they finish renovations in the lobby of Calecas Hall. It is part of a $50 million bond sale issued by the state last August.

Lastly, work for the recreation center has resumed.

Presently, Mike Davis said, they are working on and reviewing changes in the building code and are finishing testing the foundation for the recreation center.

Along with meeting a financial adviser, construction could start in November, Davis said.

“This is progress considering we’ve had great difficulty acquiring the land, and Hurricane Katrina pushed us back quite a bit,” Davis said.