Residents have moved in, parties have been held and Rick's Diner is open 24 hours a day, yet construction on the West-Edens Link continues.
Three levels of the WEL's McClendon Tower that will be dedicated to social space are still to be carpeted and fitted with lights. Officials have also not yet decided what the finished rooms will be used for. Signs on the doors reading "Sorry about the inconvenience," warn passersby about the construction, and pipes line the ceilings of the empty rooms that were supposed to have been finished by late August.
At the time, when the McClendon Tower was still in its final stages of construction, Judith White, director of the Residential Program Review, inspected the air conditioning ducts in one of its rooms. The duct was hung about seven feet from the floor and obstructed the view through the ceiling-high window.
"It was just too ugly," White decided, adding that she would rather "open it late and do it right."
The air conditioning ducts have now been moved to more discreet parts of the rooms, and White said her "best guess" is that the unfinished floors--the second, third and fifth levels--will be finished by mid-November.
That no supply companies stock the material needed has complicated the process. "They don't make [the material] until you put in your order," White said.
Warren Cochran, the superintendent with J.W. Grand construction company, said their work can start as soon as the design plans for the lighting arrive-possibly in a week to 10 days.
For the moment, nothing is planned for the construction of specific rooms; they will be generic. "[They] could be anything from a pool [room] to a place to sit and read," said Roger Belanger, a program coordinator with White.
Once the construction is complete, the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Council will decide what will fill the space. Students in and around the WEL offered mixed opinions on what the rooms should be used for.
"[They should] hold some sort of academic environment," said sophomore Sam Waller, who added it should also include "a place where people can get together and maybe watch movies or listen to music or something."
Lara Petredis, a sophomore, said she feels that Duke students "already have a lot of study places," while fellow sophomore Leigh Hanke called the tower too "randomly placed" for a party.
Sam Hummel, a senior, said he felt that the campus needed more "things to do with two or three of your friends," such as an air-hockey, foosball or pool table. He also suggested "computer labs just for playing computer games which you could come to as an individual during the day."
All three of the unfinished rooms are in the same shape as Rick's Diner and the Blue Devil Beanery. They will have the same paint scheme as in the diner and a variation of the carpet in the WEL. The top floor--which will probably be reservable--has a higher ceiling with a more elaborate light system than the simple fluorescent lights in the other rooms.
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said he is still leaving all options open. "I'm just in the process of working up some suggestions for those floors and will be consulting with Campus Council on those options," Moneta wrote in an e-mail. "They could include a billiard center, media center or just open programming space."
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