Eleven new emergency call boxes are up and running at the University of Colorado at Boulder, according to Lt. Marty Millett of the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Police department.
The latest one was installed at 18th Street and Colorado Avenue.
The call boxes are part of several safety improvements that are under way on and off campus following the murder of ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä student Susannah Chase last year. According to Project Manager Tim Mangina, the project has been going extremely well.
"The contractor has done an excellent job of dealing with unique coordination issues at each site," Mangina said. "The fact that Facilities Management, Alta Milla Electric Co., Telecommunications and the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Police Dept. have pulled together to provide a safer campus environment has given us a lot of pride, and we are all happy to be a part of these safety improvements."
The project cost $277,689. Funding was provided by the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration, ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä's Police department, the Housing Department and the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Foundation Senior Class Fund.
Installation costs averaged $14,615 per phone. Each phone has a hands-free speakerphone allowing callers to talk to the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Police dispatcher for a few seconds after touching the "Push for Help" red button.
Eight more emergency call boxes are under construction in outlying areas of the campus, which will bring the total number of call boxes to 31. The two campus parking structures also have two call boxes on each parking level for a total of 16 emergency call boxes in the structures -- the Euclid Autopark east of the University Memorial Center and the Regent Autopark east of the engineering college.
The callbox project should be completed by the end of March. The ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Police web site has a status map showing the locations of the new phones and the status of the project. The address is .