Brown students, faculty and visitors may have noticed the proliferation of "Building Brown" signs outside various construction sites on campus in the last few months.
The signs are "Facilities Management's efforts to coordinate those projects, which did not happen before in past years," said Michael McCormick, assistant vice president for planning, design and construction for Facilities Management. With six projects in progress out of a total of nine proposed construction sites displayed on the Building Brown Web site, such coordination is necessary, McCormick said.
"This is a completely new effort," McCormick said. "We are doing so many construction projects at once - typically we did one, maybe two projects at a single time in the past."
For McCormick, the effort of conducting multiple projects simultaneously is part of a bigger initiative to improve the appearance of the campus.
McCormick was unable to provide any estimate as to how much it will cost to maintain the signs. He stressed that the phrase "Building Brown" is "not an official slogan" for the construction projects themselves - rather, it refers to the page of the same name on the Facilities Management Web site.
Among the nine construction projects listed on the site are the Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Joukowsky Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World, the Walk connecting the Main Green and Pembroke campus, the conversion of J. Walter Wilson, renovations of Pembroke Hall and the Stephen Roberts '62 Campus Center at Faunce House. Other construction projects include the Creative Arts Center, the renewal and upgrade of utility systems, the relocation of Peter Green House and the Nelson Fitness Center and University Swim Center.
The construction initiatives are part of President Ruth Simmons' Plan for Academic Enrichment, which was initially proposed in February 2002.
The signs are highly visible on campus, ensuring public awareness of the University's new construction initiatives.
"It seems interesting that they cover up what is being constructed," said Lawrence Stanley, senior lecturer in English.
"(The signs) do catch your attention when walking to class - it causes you to notice what's happening in terms of the campus' constant renovation," said Francis Gonzales '11.
