There are plans for a new spot for students to hang out on the Mount Carmel campus.
Joseph Rubertone, associate vice president for facilities, said that there will be a patio on top of the newly planned bridge by Irmagarde Tator Hall with lights for people to gather.
“I like the idea of it,” freshman Rob Jeffway said. “People in Ledges have that gazebo to hang out in, so this should be a similar kind of thing for kids living in Irma.”
Ned Emerson, who lives in Dana English Hall, had a different opinion.
“I think it’s annoying how kids in Irma are getting a new spot to hang out in,” Emerson said. “Kids like me in Dana don’t really have a spot outside to chill at.”
The patio, along with the widening of Dorm Road, is expected to be completed by August.
The Bobcat Way project also includes widening Dorm Road, relocating the pipes in front of Irmagarde Tator Hall and replacing the culvert.
The first step in the project was the underground work–the pipes. The Regional Water Authority was brought in solely to relocate the pipes and began working immediately after students left Quinnipiac before Spring break on March 6. The pipes needed to be moved away from the culvert so it can be replaced. This part of the project was completed in just 13 days.
These pipes will eventually connect to the new ones in the new cafeteria addition. But first, Quinnipiac will be replacing its culvert beneath Dorm Road, which carries water into “hep creek.” The culvert is 45 years old and its replacement is the next step in the Bobcat Way project. Rubertone has been the associate vice president for facilities administration for 35 years and is in charge of the project.
“It is sinking, so when we put the new culvert in, it’s going to be concrete,” Rubertone said. “We’re going to make it more like a bridge.”
“The Bobcat Way project is going to widen Dorm Road a smidge so we can park a car in certain areas so we can have two-way traffic,” Rubertone said. “Hopefully with all of the speed bumps and crosswalks we’re going to put in, it is going to be friendlier to pedestrians than to vehicles.”