The scaffolding and brightly dressed construction crews who haunted Oakland for what seemed… The scaffolding and brightly dressed construction crews who haunted Oakland for what seemed like forever last year are slowly packing up and moving out.

The tarps over Schenley Quad have been removed, the buildings sparkle and the railing guarding careless students from the hazards of the Fifth Avenue bus lane now has a fresh coat of black paint.

But Pitt is still growing.

From its founding nearly 215 years ago, Pitt has blossomed from a small college to a sprawling university. But a byproduct of this growth is the constant need to improve and expand existing facilities.

The hallmarks of this year’s improvement campaign are the Multi-Purpose Academic Complex and the Petersen Events Center.

The MPAC is being built on Forbes Avenue between Bouquet Street and Oakland Avenue. The complex, which is scheduled to open a year from September, will house computer science, psychology and business classrooms and will have retail space on the ground floor.

The most prominent feature of the Petersen Events Center, scheduled to open in January 2002, is the basketball arena. The convocation center will have the capabilities to host concerts, and will house restaurants and retail space.

Funded by a $10 million donation from alumnus John Petersen and his wife Gertrude