Dean Parsons (left) and Provost House stand in the grand atrium looking toward downtown Elon.

There’s just something about people in business attire donning hard hats and neon safety vests that makes you smile! At the conclusion of our National Advisory Board meeting on April 8, Communications Dean Paul Parsons and Associate Dean Kenn Gaither led nine board members on a hard hat tour of Dwight C. Schar Hall and the Snow Family Grand Atrium. To get your own inside look at the progress, check out our Flickr photo gallery.

Later that afternoon, Dean Parsons oversaw a second tour group consisting of School of Communications faculty members, including Associate Professors Rich Landesberg and Vic Costello and Assistant Professor Gerald Gibson, and Elon University Provost Steven House. The provost must know a thing or two about construction sites – he was the only person to bring his own hard hat!

Two weeks ago, a mysterious wall appeared outside of McEwen Communications Building, just a few steps away from Snow Family Grand Atrium. It’s safe to say the single wall, with its tiny window and concrete foundation, puzzled the many former journalists who walked by it everyday. One group even hypothesized about its purpose while standing in their gowns following the university’s spring convocation. Associate Professor Rich Landesberg shared his guess on Twitter.

During the Department of Communications’ April 5 faculty and staff meeting, Communications Dean Paul Parsons shed some light on the wall and its purpose. The dean explained that he was informed during a meeting with the contractor that sample walls are a standard process for large scale projects. It’s an opportunity for bricklayers to “demonstrate their craftsmanship,” explained Dean Parsons.

Thanks to the dean’s explanation, the speculation and rumors about the wall will likely cease. Sorry to those hoping for a drive-thru Starbucks window!

An April 6 sunrise illuminates the mysterious wall outside of McEwen Communications Building.

To make way for the new plaza that will connect campus to downtown Elon, crews started removing a section of brick wall on April 4. It was a deliberate process as only a 50-foot section was to be removed. The above image was taken Monday afternoon, while standing on Williamson Avenue looking south.

On April 5, just over 24 hours later, the section of wall was largely cleared out – see photos below. In addition to removing a portion of sidewalk, a street lamp was also taken down.

The bricks from the wall – which dates back to 1925 – are expected to be repurposed in the new plaza.

Elon University hosted a brief ceremony on March 30, 2016, to commemorate a key moment in the shared history of the university and the Town of Elon – the opening of the west campus wall to downtown Elon. As construction continues on the new facilities for the School of Communications, a 50-foot section of the wall, which dates back to 1925, will be permanently removed. In its place, a new pedestrian plaza is planned to lead onto Williamson Avenue.

President Leo M. Lambert, Communications Dean Paul Parsons and Town of Elon Mayor Jerry Tolley delivered remarks prior to the removal of the first bricks from the wall.

“As this wall comes down, it will bring the campus and the town closer together. It’s exciting to envision,” said Dean Parsons.

To read a full release highlighting the ceremony, click here. Additional photos can be found here. The Pendulum also covered the event with an article, titled “Wall removal ceremony commemorates past, looks to future.”

A person must stretch over the fence to realize it, but the concrete foundation of the Snow Family Grand Atrium has been poured. The construction crew framed the foundation in the middle of last week and the concrete was poured right before Easter weekend. The above image was taken from Lebanon Avenue, while “possibly” standing on the brick wall outside the safety fence. The image on the right is the reverse angle, from “Under the Oaks.”

While our students are off enjoying spring break, construction crews have prepped the foundation of Snow Family Grand Atrium for concrete. Do you have a few thousand pounds of cement you’d like to loan us? I’m guessing no. Crews have been working both high and low in recent days at the site, spending a great deal of time finishing Schar Hall’s roof. We’re going to miss the first roof material installed that was reflective – and blinding.

We’re also excited to share with you a new photo perspective today! This is an image we captured on the second floor of Long Building, looking toward Steers Pavilion. The crew was adding steel rebar to the facility’s roof in preparation for its own upcoming cement poor.

Interested in additional photos? Check out this Flickr photo album with images captured around the construction site.

The Schar Hall construction crew completed the window installation on the north side of the building this week. It does seem a bit ironic that this task was finished in 70-degree temperatures, just in time to crack them open and enjoy the breeze.

The only remaining openings on this side of the building are for the Snow Family Grand Atrium (far right) and the “Under the Oaks” entrance to the facility (far left).

With most of Schar Hall’s work moving indoors, the most noticeable progress over the past week as been at the site of Steers Pavilion. Below are four photographs “time stamped” to give you an idea of the site’s daily progress. All four images were taken from Whitley Auditorium, either on the building’s front stairs or from a second-story window. Enjoy!

In terms of foreshadowing, most can predict what the arrival of a crane at a construction site means. Thankfully for Elon construction enthusiasts, we weren’t disappointed.

On the morning of Monday, March 7, a crane was parked near the future home of Steers Pavilion. By 1 p.m., the facility’s first steel post was in the air and crew members were arranging the other steel pieces. The above image was taken from the third floor of Whitley Auditorium.

It’s been a busy week considering the footings for the building were poured just six days ago. At right is a photograph Vic Costello captured that day.

For the second time in five weeks a small contingent from the School of Communications toured Schar Hall to document the project’s progress. Bryan Baker, Vic Costello and Tommy Kopetskie were joined on March 4 by Dean Paul Parsons, who was taking his first in-depth look at the facility. In case you skipped over the above caption, that is in fact the silhouette of Dean Parsons with a construction hard hat. (That’s our obligatory Instagram plug.) He is standing in what will be a second-floor conference room, looking toward West Hall.

The foursome spent 45 minutes on site, walking through the atrium, basement and first and second floors. In the weeks since Baker, Costello and Kopetskie first toured the site, the second floor has received significant attention. Nearly the entire floor is now framed out and one can clearly identify the individual office spaces and classrooms. By the way, the welding sparks falling from the ceiling during our tour only added to the ambiance.

Want your own sneak peek of the construction? Here’s a Flickr album with images we captured while in the building. Below is a sampling of photos from the album.