Construction of the east and west wings of the earthquake-demolished Delmar T. Oviatt Library on the campus of Cal State Northridge will begin this summer, possibly as early as July, university officials said.
Morse Diesel International Inc., a New York-based construction firm that was awarded a contract on June 2 by the university to rebuild the wings, received a notice to proceed last week and is currently in the midst of planning its construction schedule, said Sue Curzon, dean of the Oviatt Library.
"We expect the nail pounding to begin within a few weeks," Curzon said.
Cost to rebuild the 107,000-square-foot wings is $16.7 million, said CSUN spokesman John Chandler.
"It's the largest single contract, in terms of dollar amount, that the university has awarded for an earthquake recovery-related project," Chandler said.
He added that most of the funding came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which allocated $16.1 million for the project.