Plans Underway for Central Plan Expansion Project

We are excited to announce some long-awaited plans to construct an addition to the Central Plant building, plus five new cooling towers. This project will add 8,000 square feet to the west side of the existing limestone building to house three new chillers, three new boilers, and new office space for Utility Services. The four existing wood cooling towers will be demolished one at a time and replaced with new concrete towers. A fifth tower will also be added to the cooling tower yard. Construction mobilized August 1, 2010. Since the cooling towers must be phased in one at a time, completion is not expected until April 2014.

The areas to the west and north of the Central Plant will be fenced for the construction site. Parking will be prohibited in this area. The existing roads on the north and west sides of the Central Plant will be accessible for construction and deliveries only. Pedestrian access between the Library and Architecture buildings will be via the existing sidewalk on the south side of the Technology Buildings. Periodically during the construction, the sidewalk between the Central Plant and the M.D. Anderson Library will be unavailable. We will post advance notices about sidewalk closures.

Below is a map of the affected area.



If you have any concerns regarding issues surrounding this project, the two key contacts in Facilities Planning and Construction are:

Ms. Kelly Buehler
Senior Project Manager
kbuehler@central.uh.edu
713-743-9637

Mr. Jonathan Thurston
Principal Project Manager
jthursto@central.uh.edu
713-743-2263