Colleges Finishing Construction Projects Before Student Arrival - WSET.com - ABC13

Reporter: James Gherardi l Videographer: Jemon Haskins

Lynchburg, VA - Across our area colleges are gearing up for undergrads returning to campus. For some schools, that's a bigger task than others.

Construction projects at Randolph College and Liberty University are still ongoing, and administrators say it's crunch time to complete them before students arrive.

While much of the major construction is done, the work is now focused on getting every inch of campus ready for students to work, live and play.

"We added air conditioning, replaced the windows, all new finishes, paint, flooring, carpet," said Bobby Bennett, director of Capital Projects at Randolph College.

"Moving in new furniture, as you can see behind you, we're moving all new furnishings in the whole building," said Bennett.

And at Randolph College time is ticking.

Renovations to a 30,000 square foot residence hall are just about complete.

"It's been a very aggressive project and as you can see, we're not quite finished, and have students arriving next week," said Bennett.

That's less than a week to furnish each room, clean each hallway, and make this home for more than one hundred college kids.

"We just got started real quick after commencement, and had a good game plan, and a lot of people working together, and it's going to come down to the last day, but we'll get it," said Bennett.

As Dr. Ron Godwin, Liberty University Provost put it, "It's not even the fourth quarter; it's the two minute drill, as we're getting ready for a new onslaught of an ever larger wave of students."

Across town at Liberty University, final touches are being made to welcome the largest class of undergrads in university history; a new welcome center, IM fields, parking lots, and dorm renovations - all in time for the first day of class.

"We have to have 1,500 new parking spaces ready in time for school this fall. And the reason for that is that we're constructing and building on the old 1,500" said Godwin.

Both schools say they have projects that will have to continue even after students arrive. Randolph has a $6 million student center to be completed by the end of the year.

Liberty is hoping to finish their brand new baseball stadium in the next few months.