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August 24, 1998
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The August 11 groundbreaking signaled the start of construction on the new Bay Tree Bookstore and Graduate Commons. (more photos).
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Campus officials symbolically broke ground in the Bay Tree Bookstore parking lot in early August, marking the official start of construction on the new bookstore and Graduate Commons project. More recently, work crews took further steps forward, installing a chain-link fence around the area and a construction trailer.
Over the next two weeks, construction crews will strip asphalt off the parking lot, excavate and remove dirt from the site, remove lights, and carry out other demolition work to ready the site for building.
When the $13.5 million project is finished in spring 2000, the area will feature a modern bookstore, a new graduate student center, an attractive pedestrian plaza, and many other amenities. UCSC will boast a vibrant new crossroads in an area that is dubbed "Core East" in the campus's LRDP (Long-Range Development Plan) Implementation Program.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Cindy Shook, a bookstore employee who attended the groundbreaking on August 11. "Having a new building will make some challenges for us, but I'm excited about it and looking forward to helping make it all work."
The Bay Tree Bookstore opened 30 minutes later than usual on August 11 to allow bookstore employees to celebrate the long-awaited start of construction. A note on the bookstore door voiced a common sentiment among those involved: "We appreciate your understanding! This project has been planned and awaited for a very long time!"
"It's going to be amazing to see it all begin," said Kathleen Flint, cochair of the Graduate Student Association's Graduate Commons Committee. "We're really pleased with the contractor and have been very pleased with the architect, and it's worked out like a dream."
For more information about the project, go to a previous Currents article