Numerous construction projects that have changed the face of Eastern’s campus will be wrapping up in the coming weeks.

The new chilled-water loop project which has resulted in the excavation of large tracks of land in the South Quad is scheduled to be completed by the middle to end of February, interim President Lou Hencken said.

The loop will link the cooling systems of the individual South Quad buildings so they can be used in unison and more efficiently, Hencken said.

“The project is basically on schedule,” Hencken said. “If the weather remains as it is right now the project should be completed.”

The sidewalk between Coleman Hall and Lumpkin Hall was closed over winter break for digging, but it has recently been reopened. However, the sidewalk between Klehm Hall and Lumpkin Hall will be closed off until the project’s completion, Hencken said.

After the digging and pipe installation is completed in February, new lighting and equipment room wiring work is all that remains for the new system to be up and running by the “cooling season,” Gary Reed, physical plant director, said.

“We’re trucking right along according to the schedule,” Reed said. “We may beat the anticipated schedule for next fall.”

A familiar lobby shop with a new name, the Panther Pantry, and a redesigned structure is scheduled to open at the end of the week in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union’s east wing on main floor near the book store, providing beverages and snacks to students, Hencken said.

The lobby shop closed in November for renovation, and starting today equipment will be moved back to its renovated location and will then be open for business soon after, Hencken said.

Also in the Union, the newly renovated bowling alley will open sometime next week for classes and leagues with refinished lanes, new pin setters, new ceiling and a new computer scoring system.

The lanes are schedule to open sometime next week; however, the new carpet may not be installed in time for the opening, Hencken said.

“(The bowling alley) looks like a whole new facility,” he said. “It’s all ready to go.”

In addition to the larger initiatives, some smaller energy saving projects will be continuing and finishing up in the residence halls such as the installation of new high pressure shower heads, sink faucets and toilets, which reduce the amount of water and energy wasted, Reed said.

The smaller conservation projects are packaged into the same year-long energy conservation project as the new chilled water loop. Honeywell Inc. was contracted the project at a cost of $10.8 million last year. The measures that Honeywell are slated to complete are supposed to save the University the amount of the contract within 10 years, or the company will compensate the remaining sum.