March Construction Update

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I’d like to begin this message with a heartfelt thank you to members of our campus community for their patience as we worked to maintain a safe environment during Friday’s winter storm. I’d like to recognize our Physical Plant teams for their perseverance to remove tons of snow—literally. The team’s work ensured our essential services personnel were able to safely support our students through the intense weather system. In addition, I’d like to express my gratitude to the Department of Recreation Services and Campus Planning, Design and Construction (CPDC) teams who seamlessly relocated fitness equipment and renovated spaces for fitness activities to Flanagan Gymnasium and the Women’s Building. Their hard work ensured that students, faculty and staff continue to have access to equipment, classes and fitness areas during the Archbold Gymnasium transformation.

Now that spring is around the corner, work is underway for a significant amount of construction and utility improvement projects on our campus. Members of our staff will become more visible as they perform outdoor cleanup and ongoing maintenance activities to prepare our campus for the warmer months ahead. My colleagues and I continue to work on a number of important projects, including the following:

All Gender Restroom Signage: After significant campuswide engagement and thoughtful design work by staff in CPDC and our School of Architecture students, new all gender restroom signage is currently being installed at more than 700 single-occupancy restrooms on campus.

Campus Utility Work: There are three main areas that will be impacted during utility upgrades and progress will be achieved in several phases. Work areas will change and students, faculty and staff traveling in these areas should stay alert and follow the pedestrian signs.

• Utility work will be taking place during spring break in the Shaw Quadrangle area and will be completed by March 19 when students return to campus.
• Utility improvements in the Newhouse 3 lawn area are scheduled to be completed prior to Commencement weekend in May.
• Utility upgrades in the Q-1 parking lot will continue throughout the summer and progress toward the front of Heroy, along the west and south side of Steele Hall toward the Quad. This work is scheduled to be completed in August prior to the start of the fall semester.

Graham Dining Hall: Renovations are nearly complete and the new fitness center will open later this month. This facility will be an excellent addition to our current fitness offerings.

National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC): Construction activity and excavation for the NVRC building’s foundation is underway at the intersection of Waverly and South Crouse avenues. Site preparation and progress can been be observed via the inaugural drone flyover or by watching the construction webcam on the NVRC website. The building is scheduled to open in spring 2020.

Archbold Gymnasium: Demolition work continues on the interior spaces and renovations will become more obvious as summer approaches. The existing southern portion of the building will be removed and the larger building addition will be constructed to support the new natatorium, the building which houses the swimming pool. Construction includes the creation of the Barnes Center at The Arch, a new state-of-the-art health, wellness and recreation complex. The building is scheduled to open in fall 2019.

We are also working at rounding out a full list of this summer’s construction activity to share with the campus community in April. As always, please check our website to learn more about projects in your area and find the latest information.

If you have any construction-related questions, comments or suggestions, please email cpdc@syr.edu. For parking concerns, call Parking and Transit Services at 315.443.4652.

If you have questions pertaining to accessibility, please contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services, at 315.443.4018, ADA@syr.edu, or equalopp@syr.edu.

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable spring break.

Sincerely,

Pete Sala
Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer