A new academic building and an existing facility undergoing renovations are expected to open for classes when the fall semester begins Monday, Aug. 19, at West Virginia University, officials said.

Construction of the new Life Sciences Building on Campus Drive and fire protection improvements at the Creative Arts Center on the Evansdale Campus are near completion, said Joe Fisher, associate vice president for facilities and services.

Both projects must undergo final inspections by the state fire marshals office before they can open their doors, Fisher said. Inspections are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 13, at Life Sciences and before Aug. 19 at CAC .

Administrators, faculty and staff have started moving into the $50 million Life Sciences Building, Fisher said. The eight-floor, 190,000-square-foot structure houses classrooms, research labs, a 250-seat auditorium, 125-seat auditorium, an out-patient mental health center, a herbarium and greenhouse.

The facility is the new home of the biology and psychology departments, the two largest programs in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. Both departments have been housed in outdated buildingspsychology in Oglebay Hall and biology in Brooks Hall. The new facility will enable the programs to expand their teaching, research and service activities.

Officials will formally dedicate the building at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17.

Payette Associates of Boston is the architect on the project, and Dick Corp. is the construction manager.

The Life Sciences Building is one of three new facilities composing the first phase of WVU s facilities master plan, a 10-year campus renewal program totaling more than $250 million. Other projects include a Student Recreation Center that opened last July and a new Downtown Library that opened in January.

At the CAC , workers have been installing new fireproofing and sprinklers and updating the fire alarm system as part of an $8.9 million renovation project, said Mark Oreskovich, the colleges assistant director of operations.

About 30 12-month administrators and staff and faculty who taught summer courses have relocated to the Prete Building during the work, Oreskovich said. Summer courses were taught in other buildings on the Evansdale and Downtown campuses and a few local churches, he added.

While the fireproofing is nearly completed, the sprinkler and fire alarm work will continue throughout the school year, resulting in the temporary relocation of classes or offices occasionally, Oreskovich said.

Dismantling work has also started in the colleges 1,400-seat concert theater, which is being refurbished thanks to a $2 million gift from Charleston philanthropist Lyell Clay, he said. The theater will sport improved acoustics and lighting, a new fly loft rigging system, new wall treatments, carpeting and main stage drape and other improvements when it reopens in fall 2003.

March-Westin Co. Inc. of Morgantown is the general contractor on this project.

Meanwhile, a new parking lot in Sunnyside is expected to open in mid-September, Fisher said. The University is finalizing the property acquisition following the recent demolition of six dilapidated buildings by owner William Morlino.

The lot will initially have a gravel surface, although the University eventually plans to pave it, Fisher said. There will be 52 parking spaces, down from a previous estimate of over 100.