Construction work on the new Health Services facility has been moving along smoothly since the groundbreaking of the site on Aug. 5, said Stephen Shrake, architect for the physical plant. The site is located between Thomas and Klehm Hall.

Shrake and Karl Helmink, project manager for site, have the building slated to be finished by May 2003. The contractors, who Shrake did not name, believed a May 2003 completion date was a realistic goal, he said.

However, because workers are in the “very early stages” of construction, that is merely a target date, Shrake said.

Shrake said the plan is for the contractors to get started before the beginning of fall so the workers would be able to construct longer without Eastern having to bear the cost of heating workers’ break areas because of the cold weather.

Lynette Drake, director of Health Services, said she is excited about the new facility that will house not only Health Services, but also the Counseling Center, the Career Center and Speech, Language and Hearing Center.

Drake said she is especially excited about the skylights being installed on the main floor.

The building will be unique on campus in that it will only have a second floor on the front of the building facing the quad.

The directors of each of the student services moving into the new building teamed up and have actively been working on the new updated building plans for a few years, Drake said.

“(The construction) seems to be going great,” she said. “Great progress has been made so far. We started getting into the planning two years ago.”