A presentation about ongoing campus construction projects at Syracuse University lasted roughly 10 minutes on Tuesday morning.
In a classroom with a capacity of approximately 60 people, only a handful of SU faculty members attended the event, drinking coffee with laptops and legal pads at the ready. The update was held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the Heroy Geology Building.

Joseph Alfieri, director of SU’s Division of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, and Mark Hance, CPDC’s associate director, led the presentation. Both were hired to their respective positions in early summer 2016, according to an SU News release.

“Not a lot has changed (since) when we met last month,” Hance said, referring to a previous presentation held in August.

Hance reminded attendees of several ongoing construction projects, including door replacements at the southern entrance of the Schine Student Center just outside the new University Place promenade, planned maintenance work in a stairwell at Irving Garage and the upcoming demolition of the Hoople Building, which will make room for the future National Veterans Resource Complex, among other projects. In addition, updates on the following projects were given during the meeting:

Commissary roof replacements on South Campus: The roof replacements began this week, slightly behind schedule, as an SU Campus Framework summer construction update published in August said the replacements would begin in August. The replacements will take two to three weeks to complete.

Crouse-Hinds Hall air handler replacement: All equipment needed for the replacement has been lifted to the building’s roof and work is ongoing in the mechanical penthouse. The new air handler will be operational by late October.

Exterior painting and window replacements on East Genesee Street: Painting and window replacements continue at 900 block East Genesee Street, where some SU VIP Structures warehouse facilities are located, along with Phoebe’s Restaurant & Coffee Lounge.

Link Hall auditorium improvements: Link Hall’s lobby reconfiguration, which allows greater accessibility into the Link 105 auditorium, should be complete next week. The reconfiguration was originally slated to be completed and opened some time during the week of Sept. 12, according to an email sent to the SU community by Pete Sala, the university’s vice president and chief campus facilities officer on Sept. 12. The work on the new ramp entry to Link, which is located on the building’s east side near Sims Hall, is progressing.

Sims Hall exterior stairs replacement: The replacement project is continuing, with temporary stairs currently in place. The transportation of the new granite treads for the stairs has been delayed and they, possibly, won’t make it to campus until early October, opposed to late September as previously announced.

During a Q&A session, only one person — Mike Cheatham, who is SU’s senior laboratory operations manager and the web production manager for the College of Arts and Sciences — questioned Alfieri and Hance. He asked whether anything could be done to improve the drainage for the turn landing between Irving Garage’s first street level and ground level floors. After rainstorms or following a pressure washing, Cheatham said a puddle forms on the landing that is almost an inch deep.

Hance added the CPDC would contact the project manager of the planned maintenance work at Irving Garage to “make sure (the drainage issue) gets addressed.”

Tuesday’s session was the only SU construction update presentation for this month, Alfieri said, in an interview following the event. Alfieri said until either mid-April or May, there will only be one construction update presentation per month. As summer 2017 approaches, the presentations will become biweekly, the CPDC director said.

Alfieri also reminded attendees that the Campus Framework forums are continuing throughout the fall semester.

Published on September 20, 2016 at 11:37 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek