All Loom on the Horizon Even though the earthquake is now more than three years in the past, Cal State Northridge's trek to recover from it continues to produce a whirlwind of pending campus activity, with many major developments still looming ahead. In recent interviews, Vice President for Administration and Finance Art Elbert and his staff offered an overview of significant upcoming developments on the recovery front, with Elbert predicting the campus should be through the process in another three years. While Elbert expressed some frustration at how long some aspects of the recovery have been taking, he also said the campus is beginning to turn the corner. After previously predicting the start of work last semester, campus officials now say they expect to demolish the heavily damaged Fine Arts and South Library buildings this summer, with the first tentatively set to begin June 1 and the other set to commence July 1. New Construction Plans are slowly taking shape for several new facilities that will emerge from the earthquake.
Current discussions envision a possible location near the existing Administration Park domes.
A replacement for the South Library, which functioned as the campus' computer center and probably will be known as that in the future, could go on the current site, although recent discussions have explored moving it closer to the Oviatt Library. The list of still-closed buildings slated to reopen for the fall 1997 start of classes now includes Sierra Tower, Jerome Richfield Hall and the Engineering building. The campus old physical education building, which is open now but due to close over the summer, also should be back. The university had an interim DMJM program director, Howard Clark, since campus officials sought the departure of two prior DMJM managers in late September. The other top DMJM official who arrived in mid-February is Jack Shafer, the company's director of higher education.