Haley Center Concourse to be closed for four weeks
The Auburn University Facilities Division will close Haley Center Concourse in its entirety starting at noon Sunday, Oct. 12. It will reopen by noon Friday, Nov. 7. This closing will allow the necessary construction to proceed more expeditiously.
Tags: concourse, facilities, haley center
October 13th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Well, what am I supposed to do? This has, and will continue to make me late for class! Do I just leave my other classes early so I’m not late for my others? Thanks Auburn University! I like this new Auburn tradition of construction.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Haven’t we dug this thing up enough times in the last 5 years?
October 13th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
First no parking places now this to make everyone late for class. Great
October 13th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
This is so inconvenient. I agree with the other 2 comments…..what r we suppose to do regarding getting to class????
October 13th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Absolutely ridiculous!!! This whole “Build a new Auburn” crap is taking too long … Every time I walk by the “Work Zones” I never see anyone “Working” … Hurry up and finish all of it!
PS – The new student center is really nice, but not very “Auburn” to me
October 13th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Wait… The concourse? Are they talking about the “old” concourse (on the left side of Haley) or the walkway that used to be Thach Avenue? If it is the entire “old thach” that should definitely wait until the Christmas break.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Thank you for notifying the student community more than 24 hours (I received the This Week @ AU at 1:43 PM on Monday) after the “planned closing”. Thank you for not providing detour signs. Thank you for not providing access without steps for those who rely on bicycles for transportation around campus.
Thank you for not thinking about your actions and how they impact the lives of others.
Thank you for wasting my tuition on a concourse that was fine the way it was. Thank you for constantly having some kind of construction project on this campus since I’ve been here. Thank you for destroying the Auburn I first saw back in March 2002. Thank you for not being understanding of everything that your students have concerns with. Thank you for removing student parking spaces. Thank you for destroying Auburn’s Environment.
Kenny is to Auburn’s Campus as Auburn Adminsistration/Facilites is to murders. YOU BAST***S! (Thank you SOUTH PARK!)
October 13th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I like this! I welcome as many saws and drills as possible! BRING THEM ON! I mean, I’ve grown so use to the noise produced by these contraptions that taking a test without the ERRRRRR..and WHOOOOO..aand WHAALLLLLLLLL would just be strange and probably decrease my academic performance!
October 13th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Everyone… I’m not quite sure how this will actually make you late for class. regardless of where you’re coming from, it will probably only add only a minute to your trip (if that) to either walk through, or walk around Haley. Today I left my place at my normal time, but instead of walking into Haley from the concourse side, I walked in on the Thatch side.
I’m also not sure, Stephen, how this has inconvenienced you in the past. Yeah traffic kind of bottlenecked a bit, but it wasn’t anything too bad. If this is really inconveniencing you that much, you might want to rethink your morning schedule.
Just think of how this is helping you as a student and as a pedestrian on the concourse. I can’t count how many toes I’ve stubbed or how many times I’ve tripped in the 4 years that I’ve spent here on the plains.
War Damn Eagle. War Damn New Concourse.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Stephen,
Rest assured, the concourse is being improved and construction is proceeding as quickly as possible. As we seek to improve Auburn University’s campus for you and 24,000 other students, thousands of faculty and alumni there will be some minor inconveniences. We apologize for these inconveniences and offer some alternate paths to the concourse such as the first floor of Haley Center, which parallels the concourse and is air conditioned 24/7. You may also wish to pass through the New Student Center which was completed recently. The New Student Center offers students amenities such as 7 new restaurants, TV and study lounges and a computer lab. We hope all students are able to enjoy these new facilities and renovations once completed. Thanks for your comment, and War Eagle!
October 13th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Staff:
You should be well aware that there is not bike friendly route (with out wasting any more energy) between Haley and the end of Quad Drive where the concourse is. Furthermore, access to that part of the Student Center has been closed as well. Hence the complaint. The administration needs to put more emphasis on PLAN in Campus PLANning.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
For all of the bike friendly emails we received during the summer I have to say this is one of the least bike friendly places I’ve ever been. Would it be possible to widen the connection walk from Broun Hall to Magnolia? I was behind a stopped golf cart on a five foot wide path with no room to go off of it because of a fence on one side and a chain on the other. Just a suggestion though. War Eagle!
October 13th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
What about us that use the Mell street Tiger Transit stop? we have to walk either past the other tiger transit stop, or all the way down mell st. im all for improving auburn, but i think there is a lack of planning on the universities part. and for those that are saying that it only adds an extra minute or two to our walking time, well thats just wrong as well. since there were no clearly marked detour signs, people are trying to walk through the new student center, but the south entrance is also blocked off. i just think there is a lack of communication between the univeristy and its students…
October 13th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Wow! I am amazed at the responses by the students. Staff, I first commend you for putting up with the complaints. Second, it is very disappointing that students cannot figure out alternate paths to class. Students you need to learn one thing in life, “Life is full of detours”. Get used to it.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The university is here to train us to think about how what we do in this world impacts the lives of others. But yet they can’t lead by a good example when it comes to projects like this one.
Could the staff respond to this issue?
October 13th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Brian:
I recommend you contact the Dean of Students, Johnny Green, to let the administration know how you feel. His contact information can be found here: http://auburn.edu/deanofstudents/contact.html. Johnny Green is always open to suggestions straight from the students. In fact, there will be a morning session of his famous “Whining and Dining” on October 15th. For more times, please visit http://www.auburn.edu/deanofstudents/wnd/index.htm .
In regards to plans for construction, the master plans have been available for over a year at the Campus Planning website at http://www.auburn.edu/administration/campus_planning/campus_planning/campus_planning_master_plan_current.htm . In the Executive Summary, you will find the outlined reasons and planning behind the construction on campus.
The university has been particularly concerned with making this campus “Green” and environmentally friendly. Converting to a primarily pedestrian campus, providing a central bus system (Tiger Transit) using bio-diesel, and the construction of new bike paths are all being done to positively impact the lives and environment of the Auburn University community.
For any other questions regarding the construction process, please contact either the Dean of Students at 844-2354 or Campus planning at 334-844-2977. Unfortunately we cannot handle every single comment, so direct contact with the offices involved will help get your comments and concerns heard by the administration.
—————-
We always seek to improve our communications to students, faculty and alumni, so we appreciate all comments whether constructive or not. Once again, from the Auburn University “This Week @ AU” staff, we offer our sincerest apologies for these inconveniences. Thanks, and War Eagle!
October 13th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
The portion in front of the quad(between new foy and parker) should have been completed before doing this so you could allow access to New Foy, and Haley via New Foy. This affects anyone who has a class on the NE side of campus needing to go to Haley.
October 13th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Ha! I like how people are trying to act like there is no way someone can be late for class…how do you guys know? Easy, you don’t!
Let’s say oh…someone is in Duncan or in the Aerospace building..taking an engineering class. It’s 9:50 and you have class in let’s say the Chemistry building at 10. It’s possible to make that in 10 minutes..easy. However, the professor says…”Further more, one last thing…” and it’s now 9:51. Ok, yeah I can make it to Goodwin if I hustle..fine. Woop, whats that? Why is the concourse moving sooo slow? Oh crap…they closed down 3/4ths of it. It’s ok, I’ll just detour over here on the sidewalk…works fine. Now, let’s make it even MORE difficult. Why is this side walk so crowded? ….oh that’s great…let’s close down the rest of the concourse! 10:03…walking in….great…missed my moring quiz! thanks au!
Here’s an appropriate edit….to a reply above:
This Week staff Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Stephen,
Rest assured, the concourse is being improved and construction is proceeding as quickly as possible. As we seek to improve Auburn University’s campus for you and 24,000 other students, thousands of faculty and alumni there will be some—>MAJOR<—inconveniences. We apologize for these inconveniences and offer some alternate paths to the concourse such as the first floor of Haley Center, which parallels the concourse and is air conditioned 24/7. You may also wish to pass through the New Student Center which was completed recently. The New Student Center offers students amenities such as 7 new restaurants, TV and study lounges and a computer lab. We hope all students are able to enjoy these new facilities and renovations once completed. Thanks for your comment, and War Eagle!
October 13th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
i was just wondering if there is any way that some bike trails could be made ON CAMPUS. it is nice to have them on the side of the roads when you are traveling back to your apartment but while trying to get to class going through campus it seems it takes longer than walking. also- i was wondering (maybe i just missed the memo) where did all the bike racks go that were on campus earlier this sememster? we should DEFINITELY get more bike racks on campus.
also- i am kinda upset about all of auburn being changed- auburn university is appealing BECAUSE of its old town look- not because of its newly added stuff- can we just renovate and not completely tear things up? i liked the brick walkway (concourse)- it was classy :) — i came to auburn because i fell in love with the campus- i just feel that if we do too much more then it will look like every other university in the U.S. and not the great university on the plains that it once was and that we all loved so much.
im not mad- just concerned about auburn’s traditional feel.
please respond back
October 13th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Wow.
I am a level headed individual and am not quite as agressive about these incoveniences as many of those above are, but I can’t deny that it seems like bad planning.
I live in the upper quad and used to enjoy walking straight to Haley for my morning class. The shortest distance between two point, you know. Well I was disappointed but understanding when construction began on the concourse in front of Haley; it made the traffic a little worse and ruined my pretty little morning walk, but it wasn’t so bad. I wondered why Auburn hadn’t worked on all of this during the summer when people didn’t need to get to class. But now that the way is completely blocked and I have to, as the staff so pleasantly says “walk through the air conditioning of Haley” and climb the stairs to get to class, I am annoyed. I won’t pretend that it makes me horribly late and my grades are doomed, but it certainly isn’t very easy to navigate, as some other people pointed out. Students would literally follow each other into corners and then turn around. I felt like I was in a crowd of mice in a labyrinth.
Of course, when you back someone (or a group of people) into a corner and start complaining and critisizing, they start getting defensive and snooty. Naturally we should: just deal with it; the world is tough and badly run, get used to it; you are ungrateful and being babies; all I hear is ‘I’m paying for this, so it should be nice’ etc. I am more offended by these words than the actual problem. When people are complaining about these things, the last thing they want to hear is “Well that’s how it is. Suck it up. We are doing everything we can. We aren’t here to pander to your needs.” Well I think every student here is resonable and we understand that all of this renovating is not easy, but please respect our feelings. I hope these complaints will be forwarded to Mr. Green and that he will be able respond in an appropriate manner.
Thank you for listening.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
John,
Being babies? People are just voicing how they feel. Stop trying to get people in a fuss. It’s obvious to everyone that there is bad planning going on…if no one points it out, then who is going to stop it? You?…probably not
Further more and plain and simple…it’s very very bad planning. They had all summer to fix up the concourse…which was the BEST time to do so since there aren’t nearly as many students on campus during that time. If they couldn’t do it last summer..then they should wait for this coming summer. SIMPLE, EASY, and EFFICIENT! I mean construction is our new Auburn tradition what’s it matter if its now or next summer?
October 13th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
People,people,people. Calm down. I have been here for five years, and yes, there has been some type of construction in progress for all of the five years. Do you not want Auburn to improve our campus? This is being done for us as students and also for our enjoyment as alumni. Take pride in the new developmental strides that Auburn is taking. We must make our campus as elite as we are. We are surpassing other public institutions every day. Waking up an extra five minutes in the morning is not that big of a sacrifice to make. Haley center has three other entrances. Why is there such a problem?
War Eagle!
October 13th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I guess I should have also stated that I found it very annoying to sit through a class in the 2nd quadrant of Haley to not only hear the construction noises relating to the concourse, but to also feel the building SHAKING!!! This was on the 3rd floor. I don’t feel very safe in a building when it is continuously vibrating for more than 5 seconds.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I was informed of this 10/13 at 1:44PM of the closing YESTERDAY. That’s nice.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I have to agree with most Auburn students and say that closing the Haley concourse ,that most students cross everyday, in the middle of November may have been a bad idea. I not sure who planned this but Summer or Christmas break would have better time to make this decision. I sit in Haley everyday and all I hear is the noise from a jack hammer….I guess it doesn’t bother Dr. Green but it does bother me and other students. On top of that I see that Dr. Green has an information meeting called Whining and Dining, two things on that. First you may have wanted student opinions before you started ripping up the concourse during Fall and during football season. Second why do you have to call it whining, it sounds like you are calling AU students complainers and we aren’t I just want the ability to hear my teacher without hearing a bulldozer out my window!
October 13th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
4 weeks is stupid, i worked construction this summer . this is a week’s job at the most. they already have half of it leveled and set, pouring concrete should be 1 day, then 3 days of laying brick and mortar… that’s it 4 days. 4 weeks is ridiculous. honestly if Auburn would not allow the contractors to write in so much time into their contracts we’d actually have a beautiful campus in a timely manner. instead contractors like Hoar can come in do some ground work then sit on the project for months with out doing much of any thing. I think every one remembers the pretty grass that used to be our parking. 4 months of grass before any sort of foundation was laid for the new dorms.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
We don’t need 8 more years of this nonsense. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I have been for here since the fall of 2002. I have seen Auburn’s transition to a pedestrian campus and at first I was distressed, but it is kind of nice to not dodge traffic while crossing Thach or walking to Parker. However, when you are trying to give a speech in Haley and the teachers cannot hear you over the jackhammers outside, what kind of educational experience is that? I remember what Auburn was, before the chains and brown poles everywhere. Some definite progress has been made, and I welcome the new amenities, but some things will never change. The parking situation has only been addressed by more ticketing and towing instead of creating more spaces (Within walking distance of the school) i.e. Parking deck? I understand a “Green Campus,” but not everyone can ride the transit all the time. Why can the construction not happen on the weekends, summer, or at least after classes have ended for the day? Why does it take 4 weeks to build a walkway? Why not close half the walkway at a time? I do not deny that life is about learning to deal with the problems that are placed in front of you, but some things you cannot change. I agree completely with Frank Above. When you have a class in Swingle till 9:50 and need to ask the teacher a question about the assignment after they finish giving lecture, then as you walk out of the building, it is 9:55, you make it to the quad by 9:57 to see the signs that the concourse is closed today… five minutes late. How can you deal with that?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:32 am
This is B.S. I am failing every class because of the construction. This construction is essentially ruining my chances of getting into graduate school, er go, ruining my future. Auburn should award all students As for this semester.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:19 am
war eagle, keep it up auburn,, im an older student with some minor disabilities which are turning into a major pain in my ass. no parking, lets turn it into a walking campus, no wait,, lets not walk, lets close the walkways too, the students tuition keeps this place alive and provides funding to build all these so called improvements. i chose auburn because when i was down here before it was a nice little college town with a friendly campus. now its turned into a metropolitan nightmare. i hear georgia tech and university of alabama are nice places to take your money to, and plenty of parking with minimal construction. since im on a roll here, im also tired of riding the transit bus while the illegal alien migrant workers park illegally outside my class building withour fear of being towed while auburn students are routinely towed and ticketed while trying to find parking in time to attend classes. i now truly believe that those in charge of campus planning are either total morons or dont give a crap about the students and only care about lining their pockets further with all of this from overcharging at the student center for meals (average over 8 dollars for lunch) and a required mealplan, to parking tickets when the parking situation is worse than ever. they sell 25 thousand parking passes for only 3000 parking places and charge all students a transit fee even though most never set foot on one of those busses. the busses are half the trafic problem. and the lack of parking creates the rest of it since students circle campus continuously for hours looking for parking. FIX IT NOW. I will make sure my kids go to (your favorite university name here) instead of putting up with the beuracracy in charge down here. The next step is national attention in the news. are we really improving the university, bigger is not always better, but it is better for making a profit. where does the universities priorities lie, not in education, but in lining the pockets of these beuracratic boobs that are on the take here. Dr Green, dean of students, help the STUDENTS AND NOT THE BEURACRACY OF COLLEGE EDUCATED IDIOTS THAT ARE RUINING OUR CAMPUS!!!!!!!!keep it up auburn, war eagle.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
To FIXITNOW:
A big AMEN!
October 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Everybody needs to chill out. Life is full of minor inconveniences. Suck it up, and deal with it.
I do agree with FIXITNOW on the parking tickets, and towing. It’s very unreasonable. The university should try to find a way to make more parking.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
People, stop telling others to “chill out” or to “suck it up”…not just you Clint, but everyone above. This is a BIG issue. People need to speak their minds…if they didn’t, who knows what else they might close down? Maybe if we complain about this enough, it will prevent another section of campus from closing down or another construction project to take place before another finishes. Dr. Green seems to really care about the students a lot…he gave out his cell phone number. I like that…someone who actually cares is hard to find. I say keep the comments coming…even if they’re vulgar and poorly written.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I have a broken foot……im already late for class as it is…maybe Ill break my other foot while being pushed and shoved down the 5ft walk way
October 14th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Life may be an inconvenience, but if we work together to solve the inconveniences that face us, then life will become a convenience. If we don’t voice our opinion about these problems, then we won’t be able to find common ground towards a way of dealing with those issues. The problems will just continue to pile up.
What I believe my fellow colleagues above are trying to do is to start the process of dealing with these issues. We are trying to make it known to the administration is that certain things were not addressed when the reconstruction of the Haley Concourse was initiated. This particular item allowed us to point out other problems that we have, until recently, put up with for various periods of time.
I don’t know about you, but I will be Whining and Dining with the Dean of Students tomorrow morning for breakfast. I will be discussing this issue and many more that have come to my attention over my years at Auburn.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I too am really sick and amn tired of all the construction bullcrap going on here. Is it REALLY neccessary for teachers and students to have to put up with it? We can’t even hear our instructors when they speak and some have even had to cancel classes because of all the damn noise. Not to mention the failing grades because of it. Why can’t this be done over the holiday breaks when there are no classes in session??? This is the damnedest thing I have ever seen ( and heard). I agree with fixitnow. Auburn needs to credit everyone with an A in these affected classes. As much money as we students have to pay in tuition and it seems to increase each semester…why can’t this construction BS go on after classes have ended for the day??? HURRY IT UP ALREADY!!!!!
one pissed off student
October 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am
This is nonsense. Tuition is raised so we can build crap no one needs. How about a student parking garage instead of letting contractors build crappy condos???? I have to follow people around like a stalker just to get a place to park and am 15 minutes late to class. I haven’t been to see the new student center because I would have to park my car in Opelika just to get close enough to walk. I will say some of this blame should lay with Alumni. They give the money and have the input. How about making a bike lane down Wire Rd so I don’t have to kill an innocent biker on my way to class. Hell, open up Ham Wilson so I can ride my horse to class. Anything would be an improvement.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Your comments have been heard and forwarded to the appropriate offices. Thank you for your valuable input.
For any other comments/suggestions regarding the construction process or any other campus concerns, please contact either the Dean of Students at 844-2354 or Campus planning at 334-844-2977. Unfortunately, we cannot handle every single comment, so direct contact with the offices involved will help get your comments and concerns heard by the administration.