Image by Deb Berger, strategic relations and communications. Larger image.
Due to favorable fall weather and a promising forecast through the end of the calendar year, work will resume on several Iowa State Center parking lots on Monday, Nov. 20. The work will not impact the Cyclones' final home football game and tailgating activities on Saturday, Nov. 18, or the Iowa high schools' All-State Music Festival, which runs Nov. 16-18.
Crews from Des Moines-based Elder Corp., the contractor on the parking lot and infrastructure phase of the athletics department's CYTown development, will return to the site for an estimated four to five weeks. Their work will focus on lots A4 and A5 and the south half of Alumni Lane in the southwest corner, where they'll demolish the old asphalt lots and bring in fill dirt from offsite to raise the elevation of the area.
Lot A3, south of Stephens Auditorium, will remain open for staff and visitors to the Alumni Center, with access from the north via Center Drive.
Leveling the fill dirt in lots A4 and A5 this fall and letting time and Mother Nature help it settle over the winter puts the project a bit ahead of schedule in the spring when the frost breaks and work can continue, said senior construction manager Nathan Graves, facilities planning and management.
While the underground infrastructure required for the west lots isn't as robust as what was installed under the D lots this year, it does include stormwater sewers and electrical and telecommunication lines, he said.
Lots A4 and A5, with under-construction areas B4 and B5 that sat idle this fall, will complete the first phase of the parking lot and infrastructure prep work for CYTown in August 2024. A second phase, which will replace lots A3, B3 and C3 along the north side, was approved by the state Board of Regents this week. Phase 2 work will begin in the spring, and a majority of the work will be completed prior to the fall 2024 semester.
