The appearance of St. John’s University
is changing.

Nearly $150 million are being spent on renovations and newly constructed projects for the campus, said Brij Anand, vice president for Construction and Facilities.
Anand said that “these projects are focused to improve facilities for students learning experience on campus.”

The improved facilities include a new University/Academic Center, St. Vincent’s Hall, St. Augustine Hall and Carnesecca Arena.

Additionally, a new sprinkler system was added to the great lawn and an improved sidewalk on 170th Street are in the works.
According to Anand, there have been no major problems during the period of construction.

A minor problem did occur in front of Carnesseca arena though, where an obstruction had to be removed.

The arena project alone is costing the University around $30 million.
It plans to boast a state-of-the-art facility for athletes, coaches and fans.

The entrance to the arena will be named Pedestrians Plaza and it will accompany the facilities improvements.

St. John’s has also added new dormitories. The new townhouses and the renovations to St. Vincent’s Hall will add 509 additional beds on the campus. These new living spaces located in St. Vincent’s Hall and the townhouses will give the University eight dormitory facilities.

All of these renovations are set to be done in the near future.

The campus’s expansion will go into the fall of 2009.

A humanities center on the second floor of St. Augustine is in its preparatory stage.
The townhouses, St. Vincent’s Hall, and the 170th Street sidewalk will all be completed by August 2008, before students make their way back to campus.

St. Augustine’s and Carnesecca will be completed the following month and the University’s largest project, the University/Academic Center will be done in the fall of 2009.

“Everything will be completed on time,” Anand said. “And there will be no difficulty getting to where you need to go”.