From new road signs to new construction, summer improvements are underway

At the intersection of Cambridge Street and College Way/Loop Road near the Allen Center, a Rice student carrying a box of belongings he was moving out for the summer stopped to cross the street. After looking both ways, he paused, peered upward, pointed at a brown sign atop a tall pole and said, “Hey, that’s new!”

Photo by David Medina

Across campus, students, staff and faculty are noticing and talking about the new street signs, which went up in early May. Now when members of the Rice community give directions, they will actually be able to refer to signs naming the streets.

“I don’t even know the names of the streets!” said Rice Centennial Historian Melissa Kean, who noted that signs have gone up in the past but fell victim to theft and vandalism.

There really wasn’t a need for street signs in the past, Kean said.

“It’s only with the explosion of the new buildings that we need this,” Kean said. “We used to be able to eyeball the entire campus.”

The signs are just one of several changes coming to campus during summer break. Other projects include:

• Sidewalk repairs and replacements around the Academic Quad and Engineering Quad.
• Curb, drain and sidewalk repairs along President’s Road. The sidewalk will be raised 6 inches to minimize flooding.
• Renovation and waterproofing of planters near the BioScience Research Collaborative.
• Waterproofing of exterior walls and restriping of the parking lot at Rice Children’s Campus.
• Roof replacement at Tudor Fieldhouse.
• Landscaping renovations at the Baker College Quad and intramural fields.
• Installation of an irrigation system in the front lawn of Reckling Park.
• New plantings and irrigation repairs on the Baker Servery’s green roof.
• Acoustical renovations of Alice Pratt Brown Hall and Hirsch Orchestra Rehearsal Hall.
• Classroom and conference room updates at Herring Hall, Geology, Herzstein Hall and Mechanical Engineering.

Capital projects and renovations underway over the summer include:

• Construction of the Rice University Music and Performing Arts Center.
• Construction of Kraft Hall for Social Sciences.
• Renovation of MD Anderson Biology Laboratory .
• Construction of a new Will Rice College Magister House.
• Build-out for Neuroengineering at the BioScience Research Collaborative building.
• Switchgear replacement at the Enterprise Risk Management