TOLEDO, Ohio — The University of Toledo is enhancing some areas of campus that see a lot of foot traffic during the year.
Construction began to make pathways safer but also to make the campus more eco-friendly.
The Centennial Mall on UToledo's campus is an area that many teachers and students frequent during the school year.
These days, it's become a construction zone with contractors working on the first of four phases to enhance the path.
"It's just a reinvention of the space to make it look fresh and appealing, but still maintain the elements of the connectivity to allow our campus community to be able to traverse the campus quickly and efficiently," Senior Associate VP for Administration Jason Toth said.
The project has been in the works for about a year, even though construction began in mid-May. It's funded through state appropriation of taxpayer money and will total $1 million.
"This was a long time in the making to try and think through this project and we knew that we had to hit it between May and August because it's really the only time when this space of our campus is inactive," Toth said.
Much of the Mall will look similar to before, except it will have solid pavement made of concrete to improve safety throughout campus. The changes will also improve water drainage.
"So we invite more green space and some better drainage on the campus," he said. "Rather than going directly off the hard pavement and into the Ottawa River, it's actually going through some green space to cool and clean the water down and sediment before it exits our campus."
New plants will be added near Memorial Field House along with additional seating areas near University Hall.
The first phase of construction right in front of University Hall is expected to be done by June 8 and the entire project is scheduled to be finished by August 13, which will be in time for the fall semester to begin.
More on the project can be found here.