The new Chemistry/Chemical Biology building, located on the corner of West University Avenue and Buckman Drive, in January. The building has been under construction for more than two years.
UF students will have to wait another semester to use the new chemistry building.
After nearly two years of construction, labor shortages this year have caused a delay in development, UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said.
According to Alligator archives, the building was scheduled to open in the Fall. It is now scheduled to open in the Spring, she said.
The company with the lowest bid to complete the brick installation dropped out shortly after the project began, and a second company also dropped out, Sikes wrote in an email.
“And because of an uptick in the economy and construction projects nationally, demand rose for these specialty workers, which made it difficult for us to find a replacement company,” she wrote. “As a result, the project fell behind.”
Students scheduled to take Organic Chemistry Laboratory in the new building had their sections canceled and switched because of the delay, wrote Tammy Davidson, the UF Department of Chemistry’s undergraduate coordinator in an email to enrolled students on May 5.
The department chose to rebuild the schedule rather than canceling registration for 40 percent of students, Davidson wrote.
UF chemical engineering junior Jennifer Lewis said her section was switched.
“I’m really grateful they made the time to switch everyone’s schedule, but it’s kind of annoying because I got my spot when I wanted it,” the 19-year-old said. “They didn’t give us options; they just kind of put us in another spot.”
