The Campus Center construction continues throughout August and the attached diagram illustrates the alternate pathways that will be in place while the utility infrastructure work is carried out in order to maintain sufficient egress in the event of an emergency from the Ferst Center or Smithgall Building.  While this portion of work takes place, there are some things to note about accessing the Smithgall Building and Ferst Center:

• The existing eastern planter in front of the Ferst Center has been reconfigured with a level walkway surface to maintain access to the building.  Additionally, a new temporary accessible pathway will be constructed to preserve traffic flow to the west side of campus.  This allows work that otherwise would have obstructed the exits from the Ferst Center to occur without compromising the safety of those visiting the Ferst Center. 
• Access to the north side of the Smithgall building will be limited. Folks should use exits on the east, south, and west sides of the building. Once the construction footprint shrinks, the north exit from the atrium will be accessible once again. The exit from the Student Media suite will remain open but traffic will be rerouted by a small pathway connecting to the sidewalk along the west side of the building. 
• The Dean Griffin statue will remain outside of the work area, but the plaza will not be accessible during much of this period of work.

The work that we had hoped to achieve in the Ferst Plaza and to the north of Smithgall was delayed this summer by a series of factors – working around events in order to maintain life safety, also unforeseen subterranean conditions and utilities that necessitated a complete redesign of the work.  Some work has begun in this area but the effort will start in earnest following the President speech September 6th.

We know that this disruption will be more difficult to manage as fall classes begin. Please be assured that the team is doing everything they can to maintain the safety of the wider campus community and keep us on schedule.

Thank you for your continued patience,