the city is doing a lot of work on S. Wall Street. From what I understand, the plan is to reduce it from 2 lanes each way to one lane each way, a center turn lane and a bike lane. Stay off the street if you can as traffic backed up horribly and traffic moving either direction appears somewhat artibrary.
The results should be fine once everything gets finished but right now, East Walnut was backed up clear to S. Washington this afternoon.
The SIUC Welcome Center will cost an estimated $6 million. Yeah, I know. No taxpayer dollars or student fees are going to pay for the building and the university estimates it will open next month.
However and meanwhile, McCleod Theater, the main stage at the SIUC School of Theater and Dance, has been closed for rennovations since December. No contractior has been hired yet, ergo no work has been done.
The University has an estmated $1 billion of defered maintenance that needs done. Quigly Hall has had leaks in the ceiling for a decade. Most of the HVAC units on campus are obsolete. No equiptment supply house still stocks replacement parts for them so maintenance has to source them from eBay.
Outdoor staircases have been roped off for months waiting on maintenance. Classroom floor tiles have buckled from the cold, exposing asbestos underneath. The tiles were replaced and sealed, leaving the asbestos in place.
The universtiy did not need a welcome center. It needs money spent making classroom and student facilities suitable for student.s
