Hammers, drills and bulldozers have become familiar sounds to students, faculty and staff who frequent Boebel Hall.

Construction began in Boebel Hall on Jan. 11 that will add four state-of-the-art labs to the campus’ central classroom building. The downside of the construction is that most of it takes place during standard class hours and some students and professors have complained that the excess noise has been a severe disruption to their classes.

“It is hard enough to make it to an [8 a.m.] class on time and awake, and it makes it even more difficult to pay attention in class with the construction noises,” said Jessica Zadrazil, a junior business administration major with classes in Boebel.

“The construction does interrupt class and makes it hard to understand the professor,” Kyle Hoppman, junior crops and soils major, said. “Our class has even stopped before because of the noise.”

Assistant Chancellor for Administrative Services Robert Cramer says he understands the problem but said that there is not any good time for the construction project to take place while classes are being held. He said there is not enough time during winter, spring and summer breaks to avoid construction taking place during classes.

Cramer said only a few instructors have complained that the construction interrupts their classes. For the most part he said the campus community understands that the project needs to be done and accepting that noise will come along with the project.

“It will be exciting to see the project finished,” Cramer said. “People should be happy with the outcome.”

The construction is scheduled to be finished by July 15, 2010. The cost is $2.2 million.

Cramer said the campus community should not be surprised if more projects like the addition of the labs come to campus.

“It is an example of other projects that will come to campus in the future in order to renovate UW-P and make it an even better university,” Cramer said.