This month, several new construction projects are being started in the heart of the campus. This will cause noise and parking problems for employees of the Vrijhof, the Bastille and Sport Center. The construction will take at least a year.
An eight-story building with 74 student apartments will be built on the area between the Bastille and Sport Center. Among the future inhabitants are the current residents of Calslaan New, which will be demolished in 2008. After preparing the area, the first ground will be broken by the end of June.
Barely a hundred meters down the way, on what is currently the supermarket parking space, construction will begin on a 163-apartment residential block, also for students. It will also house new spaces for the supermarket, hairdresser and other stores. Work has already begun on preparing the area, and the old bank building has been demolished. The housing organization De Veste, owner of all student houses on campus, will begin renting the apartments before the start of the 2007-2008 academic year.
Around this time work will also begin on the thorough renovation of the side of the Vrijhof looking out over the Bastille and the cinder track. Within a year, it will get a brand new, modern library. Other parts of the building are being touched up as well.
The final project is redecorating and expanding the Medical Center. Dentist and physiotherapy will temporarily move to a portacabin next to the Bastille.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
