Some university departments will further explore the soul of Syracuse when they move ‘off the hill’ into downtown Syracuse.

During the next school year, the administration plans to relocate the School of Architecture, parts of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company and the Community Folk Art Center to 11 properties that Syracuse University recently purchased in the city.

The move hopes to enhance the education of students and give the university a stronger presence in the region.

‘We’re looking at taking this door that is open and opening it wider and creating more opportunities for SU and the Syracuse community to come together,’ said Kevin Morrow, director of SU news services

The relocation of architecture classes and the communication design department of the College of Visual and Performing Arts to the former Dunk and Bright furniture warehouse on West Fayette Street by the fall of next year is due to plans to renovate the school’s home in Slocum Hall.

‘The chancellor’s vision is one of community engagement; it’s about the university and the Syracuse community engaging one another in new ways,’ said Morrow. ‘This is SU making an investment in that portion of the city. We’re trying to get something very good going.’

Theodore Brown, the school of architecture’s graduate program chair, attributed the need for renovations to inadequate air circulation, overcrowding, advancements in architecture education, and the need to meet contemporary building codes.

‘My hope would be the ground floor would be a more public space,’ Brown said. ‘I hope when someone comes into the building they can see what is going on here and participate, at least visually.’

Brown said regular bus services are proposed to run around the clock with heightened routes during rush hour. Brown also said he is confident security will be dealt with and food services will be accommodated.

Slocum Hall was built in 1918 and has only had minor renovations since then, including the closing of the former atrium, which resulted in a lack of natural air circulation in the building.

The school lost valuable review space in order to have more studios for the growing population of students, and the studios are more isolated than Brown would like.

Brown said the warehouse will be as ‘spectacular’ as architectural studios.

‘The vast majority of architecture is produced in urban areas so the best way we can teach students is to situate the students in an urban area,’ Brown said. ‘We’re fortunate to have Nancy Cantor new and Mark Robbins new at the same time with a very comparable vision and an opportunity to locate downtown.’

The school of architecture already takes students on field trips to major cities, including trips abroad during the summer to Florence, because there are more and broader examples of architecture in the city, as well as more social opportunities.

Michael LaValley, a second-year architecture major, said the relocation downtown doesn’t bother him, although he does recognize difficulties with the move.

‘It’s going to affect how people schedule classes that aren’t architectural,’ LaValley said.

LaValley plans to live on South Campus in the fall and hopes he’ll be granted one of 150 parking sports that will be available at the downtown location.

‘It seems like they are trying to make our lives and the transition as carefree as possible,’ LaValley said.

A piece of the School of Architecture will remain downtown even after renovations are completed to Slocum Hall in two to three years.

‘The expectation is to move down there and maintain a presence for the sake of the region, the city, and the students.’ Brown said. ‘It makes a lot of sense to teach in the city. It’s going to be hard to fathom moving back.’

Despite the benefits Brown sees to the relocation, he also acknowledged some difficulties with the project, including transportation, food services, security, and dislocation from the main campus.

Zachary Krochtengel, a first-year architecture major is not as excited about the move downtown as LaValley and identified isolation from campus, transportation time, and security as problems with the new plan.

‘The move is going to draw architecture students away from the campus and make us more detached than we already are,’ Krochtengel said. ‘It cuts down on the access we have to our facilities and our dorms when we are working.’

Krochtengel said with the time it will take to get to and from the downtown location from main campus, students’ work time will be cut down.

‘It’s going to be ridiculous,’ he said.

Krochtengel said security is going to be an issue with architecture students staying downtown late into the night and early into the morning working.

‘Just walking downtown at two or three in the morning could be dangerous,’ he said. ‘I think it is an unsafe situation in general.’

Another purchase was a currently temporary parking lot for University Hospital employees on East Water Street for the new headquarters of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, a federation of academic institutions and businesses from across New York state that is devoted to creating innovations to improve urban environments.

Edward Bogucz, executive director of the Center of Excellence said it is important for the center to have a headquarters in place where the community could see their technology in use.

In June of 2002, Skytop was the planned location of the headquarters, but last January it was agreed it would be built at the downtown location.

‘It is great that this is in an urban environment,’ Bogucz said. ‘The challenges are a good thing.’

The urban setting poses challenges such as contamination on site, being adjacent to the intersection of Interstates 81 and 95, and the air and sound quality of being in an urban area, Bogucz said.

The building will run on solar power and be constructed using green architecture, meaning all recycled and environmentally sensitive materials will be used.

Bogucz said the main campus has been designed over the years to create a strong sense of community on campus, but the unintended consequence of this has been a lack of community with the broader Syracuse region.

He also said he views this plan as similar to the existing situation with Syracuse Stage because students learn and practice on site. The headquarters will have facilities for students to be able to perform tests on new technology.

‘Labs are like the stage,’ Bogucz said. ‘Students will be able to work on projects in collaboration with folks from the industry.’

Bogucz said they are currently in the process of selecting an architect.

The 900 block of East Genesee Street was also purchased to be space for drama and music students to practice, and another building on East Genesee Street was leased as the new location for the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company and the Community Folk Art Center.

‘By having a university facility in the midst of the city, this will enhance the ability to interact with members of the community,’ Bogucz said.

Published on January 20, 2005 at 12:00 pm