The residents of Paul Revere and Day Hall returned from Winter break to find a metal fence, two trailers and a torn-down playground in their front yard. The trailers located outside Paul Revere are used as office spaces for the construction workers and will remain until Spring 2009, when the construction is scheduled to end in March. The Commons renovation is underway, forcing faculty and students to adjust their daily routines. The construction takes place Monday through Friday and some Saturdays from seven in the morning until five in the evening. “At first, it was really annoying, but I’ve gotten used to it.” said Whitney Ford ’10, a new Lower in Day Hall, “I have to go out of my way now to get certain places.” Liz Lavin ’10, a Paul Revere resident, said, “On Monday I had sleep in, and at 7 a.m. it sounded like a jackhammer was going off outside of my window. I don’t know if this is going to continue, but it was very aggravating to have to wake up that early when I was planning on sleeping in.” Michael Williams, Director of Facilities, said that the Commons renovations should not greatly disturb Flagstaff residents. “Most of the work is inside so [it] will tend not to be a problem and access to the site for workers and materials is from the Salem street side, not the Quad side,” he said. “Noisy exterior jobs will be scheduled to lessen the impact to adjacent school activities.” He continued, “This is exactly the same pattern and process that we used for the construction of Gelb and that seemed to go fairly well for everyone.”
