Large bulldozers, dump trucks, and excavators settle on the remains of Southern Oregon University’s late McNeal Pavilion, which is being reduced to rubble as the year has gone on.
The demolition of McNeal Pavilion and the construction of the new Student Recreation Center and McNeal Pavilion, is scheduled to be completed and ready for the fall term in 2017. Loud stretching, crumbling of concrete, and equipment engines are just a few sounds that come from this construction site.
The current development location runs adjacent to the student dorm, McLoughlin. Although students are excited for the building’s completion, they do not appreciate all the ruckus. “The noise, it’ll wake me up in the morning. My earliest class is at 9AM so I try to get as much sleep as possible,” said sophomore Patrick Fitzsimmons.
According to the Oregon Noise Ordinance Law, “The construction, demolition, alteration or repair of any building or the excavation of streets and highways other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., on weekdays, and 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekends [is prohibited].”
Upon my own observation, workers arrive on site before 7AM and begin turning on machinery, but don’t actually begin working until just after 7AM. Still, students do not see eye-to-eye. “Considering I have an early morning class this term it (the construction) has definitely been disconcerting and has caused much less restful sleep and earlier wake-ups,” expressed junior Andrew Parmelee. “When I’m awoken early in the morning, I feel tired throughout the rest of the day.”
I reached out to Ryan Brown, head of community and media relations at SOU, to see what he had to say about this issue. “We make every effort to minimize noise and other construction-related disturbances to our campus and surrounding community,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, there are some construction activities that result in noise that can not be mitigated. We are very appreciative of the patience and understanding of our students and the entire campus community during this time and are confident that the new Student Recreation Center and McNeal Pavilion will be enjoyed by all once they are complete.”
Currently, it looks as if students will just have to bear with the noise that comes along with living just hundreds of feet from a construction site. The Siskiyou will keep you posted with any further updates regarding this issue.
