Live at 6 | Campus Construction Update

By James Groh – Syracuse, N.Y. (CitrusTV) – Syracuse’s Campus Framework is in full swing. There are currently 22 construction projects in progress on right now with Archbold gymnasium and the Veterans Resource Complex being the largest current endeavors.

Joe Alfieri is the Director of the Campus Planning, Design and Construction team, also known as the CPDC. He says so far, everything is going according to plan.

“We have the right amount of projects to project managers and a system to review requirements… we are doing the same due diligence on every single project,” he said.

The CPDC is in charge of overseeing Syracuse’s Campus Framework plan that outlines construction projects for SU over the next 20 years.

Even though there have been a few major snowstorms this winter, the snow hasn’t derailed any schedules.

“Having a 1 foot or snow isn’t a major problem… it doesn’t impact them for more than hours,” he said.

Alfieri says they plan for any problems the snow might cause so that construction is not delayed except in any unforeseen circumstances.

Part of this is a consolidation of projects to project managers.

“So by packaging more things together we can be more easier to manage a series of projects than individual projects,” Alfieri said.

However, while most projects have not been affected by snow, Crouse College is an exception.

“This year it has been a little challenging with the weather conditions we have been trying to take advantage of some of those elements of good weather to hit but we haven’t been able to get as much done as we want,” Alfieri said.

It’s not the major snowstorms, rather it is the unpredictable temperatures.

The masonry that needs to be done to fix the horizontal domes inside the Crouse Bell Tower require temperatures above 40 degrees to allow for the stones to be glued together.

“Knowing when you are going to have 40 degrees for 24 hours, 48 or 72 hours can be very difficult,” he said.

In the summer when work started, a few slabs cracked when removed. That meant the school needed to order new versions of the exact same stone with the specific measurements that would fit inside the dome.

“Dome is very very precise work,” he said.

As for the renovations of the Carrier Dome, there is still no update.

“I can’t say anything beyond the Chancellors remarks … he’s hoping to have that answered this spring.”

So it is still unclear if a new Dome will be constructed or the roof will be replaced.

Alfieri had a similar response for the plans to build more dorms on Main Campus to move all students currently living on South Campus to Main.

“The framework calls that out as a long term goal, and there’s not a timeline to that, but that’s coming out of the framework,” he said.

Syracuse’s goal is to make the university more walkable, which means consolidating the two areas into one.

So far, the most noticeable part of the Campus Framework is the Promenade that was completed just before the beginning of the 2017/2018 academic year.