Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
Welcome to our new and returning students! I hope everyone has a great start to the new academic year. As you make your way around campus, you will see many enhancements to the University’s physical campus, including the nearly complete Barnes Center at The Arch. This state-of-the-art complex is a hub for student wellness, featuring services that promote health and well-being in an accessible, central campus location. It’s a tremendous asset for the entire campus community. To celebrate the new facility, the University will hold a grand opening event Sept. 13 with guided tours.
Although we are still in the summer months, I wanted to also mention that Facilities Services has implemented plans for improving campus accessibility during the winter. Grounds staff will be extending targeted snow and ice clearance, expanding snow removal hours and offering individualized snow clearance. The goal is to enhance safe and equitable access around campus for all.
Below is a list of the many projects that have wrapped up this summer or are continuing to take shape:
Archbold Gymnasium/Barnes Center at The Arch: The health and wellness portion of the building includes health promotion services and a pharmacy on the first floor, health care services on the second floor and counseling services on the third floor. Stop by to visit the Walters Pet Therapy Room and the Crowley Family MindSpa on the first floor. The fitness center provides three floors of fitness equipment, a climbing wall, basketball courts, a pool, group fitness rooms, table tennis, an indoor track, an esports room and a multipurpose court for soccer, roller hockey and other sports. The contractor is putting the final touches on the pool, basketball courts and group fitness rooms. These spaces will become available during the next few weeks as we prepare for the building dedication on Sept. 13.
Day Hall Student Room Renovations: The final phase of a three-phase project was completed for student move-in last week. This multi-phase project has provided students with updated single-user accessible restrooms throughout the building, renovated student rooms on all floors and an updated lounge on the first floor.
DellPlain Hall Student Room Renovations: Work is complete on the first phase of a two-phase project. This summer’s renovations occurred on floors six through eight and a new student lounge on the first floor that includes three new team rooms. This project includes new accessible room layouts, furniture, flooring and other finishes. The scheduled work for next summer will complete the improvements on floors one through five.
Campus Wayfinding and Building Signage: A working group of University representatives is overseeing a phased Campus Wayfinding and Building Signage project. This project includes exterior campus wayfinding and building signage, digital wayfinding, arrival signage to identify campus gateway entrances, interior building signage, and wayfinding and donor recognition signage. New parking lot signs and wayfinding signs have been installed. Additional new building identification signs will be posted throughout the fall.
Eggers Hall Registrar Classrooms: Four classrooms in Eggers Hall—rooms 012, 070, 111 and 113—received new finishes. These updates included new carpeting, paint and new furniture.
Hall of Languages: Renovations are complete in the two auditorium spaces, rooms 107 and 207. The renovations included new auditorium seating, carpeting, paint, classroom technology upgrades, and heating and cooling upgrades. This work represents the third and final year of renovating all instructional space in the Hall of Languages, a key project opportunity outlined as part of the Campus Framework.
Lyman Hall Room 132: Renovations to the auditorium space will continue into September. This auditorium space will be ready for classes on Sept. 16 and will include new tiered seating, AV upgrades, and new lighting and flooring. Newly restored windows around the perimeter of the room and HVAC upgrades will create a new comfortable classroom space for students.
Hinds Hall Renovations: Upgrades to the café area are complete. New flooring was installed and modifications to the serving area took place to allow for a new assortment of specialty drinks to be served. Build-out of the newly expanded ICE Box space on the second floor to create an additional 1,000 square feet of flexible program space will continue until the end of October. Building occupants will also notice renovations of the third floor to create new faculty offices and improvements to the first-floor student services suite. All work is scheduled to be complete late in the fall semester.
Maxwell School Masonry: Masonry repairs on the west side of the building are 75 percent complete. The masonry repairs will continue until early fall. During the next three years, an additional side of the building’s masonry will be repaired and restored each summer.
Shaffer Art Building Glass Block Façade: The existing glass block façade replacement project along the west side of the building is nearing completion. The contractor will finalize work this week, removing site fencing and restoring the area between Shaffer Art Building and Bowne Hall.
National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC): The building enclosure is nearing completion as construction enters the final stages of finishing the interior spaces and landscaping around the building this fall. The project is on schedule for a January 2020 opening. Pedestrians and drivers are reminded to follow the signs in the area of construction. A single lane of traffic will remain along South Crouse Avenue from Waverly Avenue to Marshall Street through the fall. You can monitor the progress at the NVRC website and live webcam.
Schine Student Center Renovation: Interior demolition of the renovation area has commenced. In the coming weeks, the campus community will see the removal of the existing pyramidal skylight on the roof and the brick façade on the west side of the building. The new design will create new open interior spaces and a new glass western façade to allow natural light to filter into the building. The Bookstore and Goldstein Auditorium will remain open throughout construction. Information on where to find relocated offices and services during the renovation can be found in this SU News story. The project, identified as a key component of the Campus Framework, will enhance the student experience by creating new gathering spaces, improved facilities for student services and a new dining experience. More information on the project can be found on the SU News website.
Crouse College Cupola Restoration: The contractor is in the process of restoring the cupolas on the west side of the building. Restoration work includes repair of the wood structure and replacement of the slate shingle roof and copper cladding. Upon completion of the restoration work, the cupolas will be reinstalled on the roof in September.
Nancy Cantor Warehouse Renovations: Renovations have occurred over the summer to create new space for the Office of Community Engagement and the Division of Marketing and Communications. A new community meeting room in the previous café location will be completed in September. Construction of the new café located on the first-floor adjacent to the Washington Street entrance is complete. Improvements to the fourth floor recently commenced to create additional space for marketing and communications staff later this fall.
Stadium Roof Project: Preliminary work commenced earlier this summer for the roof project at the Stadium. Erection of the crane on the west side of the stadium is complete. Erection of a second crane will begin next week on the south side of Steele Hall. Steel bracing and other preparatory work around the perimeter and on the ring beam of the facility is significantly complete. Installation of the steel crown roof truss will begin in the fall. Pedestrians traveling from Sadler and Lawrinson halls should observe and follow pedestrian signage. For additional information regarding the pedestrian route, visit the site impact and closures webpage. Please also note that the Stadium is closed to walkers due to construction activities around the building.
A full listing of construction projects is updated and listed by building on the CPDC website. Please refer to this website periodically to see what is occurring across campus, and feel free to reach out to the assigned CPDC project manager with any questions you may have. For everyone’s safety, I encourage you to remain alert in work areas, watch for route changes, heed construction flagger directions and follow the pedestrian signs. Visit the CPDC Impact/Road Closure webpage for additional 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.
Sincerely,
Pete Sala
Vice President and Chief Campus Facilities Officer