The art building construction has officially broken ground. The project was designed and is being built by Aedis Architecture and Blach Construction and costs $28 million.

“Right now, we will have range from 20 to 50 guys a day, five days a week, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. working on getting building concrete set up,” said a construction worker who wouldn’t give his name.

“The mountain of dirt you can see when you pass by, that’s from the old building back in 1947, and we will be re-using the soil to build the new art building,” a construction worker said, “It represents how eco-friendly this building will be.”

Construction goes on with no complaints from classes held next door, so far.

“It will just be minor construction sounds,” said Patricia Johnson, 21. “I have my Introduction to Business class before noon, but we can hardly hear the construction unless we step outside of the building.”

According to Professor Bell, the new building will have a 3D sculpture room, all equipment needed in each room, and an open gallery for art students.

“We are very excited about the new building and the architecture designs are amazing,” Bell said.

“The only minor complaint we got was the temporary classroom being crowded for students during class sessions,” said Bell, “but the school has accommodated enough to provide full facility for us to use.”

According to Aedis’ website, the multidisciplinary art complex will focus on natural light, ventilation faculty and a highly efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning) system. Designers are targeting a LEED certificate, which exemplifies Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The main purpose is to improve performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction and indoor environmental quality.

“The current estimate date to be finished is August 2012. However, we are hoping to finish by spring of 2012” according to the site.