The constant buzzing sound of a construction drill. The loud yelling from the construction workers. The repetitive banging of a hammer.
Students weren’t supposed to be hearing these sounds this far into November, but for anyone who walks by the Lennox and Addington residence, it’s clear that construction on the building has been delayed a second time.
After students moved into the unfinished building in September, an Oct. 28 deadline was set for the building’s completion.
Darryl Boyce, assistant vice-president (facilities management and planning) said weather has been the main antagonist of the project. The construction was slow to start and wet weather slowed down the construction by a couple of months, he said.
On top of the weather, the workers are trying to work around students who have already moved in, Boyce said.
While the construction continues, students are trying to go about their daily lives.
“It’s definitely noisy at 7 a.m. with all the banging,” said first-year journalism student Emily Jenniskens.
Sometimes Jenniskens said she can’t concentrate on her work and has to leave the building.
“The drilling is the hard part to get past,” Jenniskens said.
Boyce said they are “hoping to catch up” and the finish the project by the end of December.
David Sterritt, director of housing and conference services, said the blame ultimately rests on the constructor and not the housing department.
“I’m terribly sorry about it. We’ve made as many efforts as we can to move these things along,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the contractor’s responsibility to complete the work.”
And Sterritt isn’t the only one in administration upset with the delays.
“I am very disappointed that the contractor did not complete the building at the end of October as he had agreed to do at the start of the semester,” said Duncan Watt, Carleton’s vice-president (finance and administration) via email.
President Roseann Runte said she visited the building last week and “saw considerable progress.”
“I am sure everyone is doing his and her best to ensure that the work gets finished as quickly and as expertly as possible,” she said via email.
Sterritt said since September, one-and-a-half more floors have been completed. He said most students that were forced to double up with a roommate because of the slow construction have been moved into the single rooms they originally requested.
Occupants are now waiting for the first, ninth and 10th floors to be finished, he said. That means students still have to drag their laundry to other residences for at least another month.
However, students are receiving compensation for their trouble.
In September, students received an original fee rebate of $515, Sterritt said. In October, students were paid $9.50 per day and they’ll continue to get that until the construction is finished, he said.
“They can keep going and I can keep getting paid,” Jenniskens said. “This is residence life, it’s not supposed to be spectacular.”
Residence students are actually getting paid back some of their residence fees, Sterritt said.
“You’re getting a credit,” he said.
With some change in their pockets, students are left waiting for the construction to finish.
For Jenniskens, the construction isn’t the most painful part — she just wants to know when it will end.
“If I could pick one thing to fix, it would be knowing the deadline,” she said.
