Campus renovations of Blodgett, Main continue

Joe Rozek Guest Writer

Several academic buildings and houses underwent significant renovations this summer, some of which are still in progress. Backed by multi-million dollar budgets,
Buildings and Grounds Associate Executive Director Jeff Horst and Project Managers Art Fisher and Brian Corrigan are leading the major construction efforts on Blodgett Hall, Main Building, several residence houses, and are conducting an inspection of the arboretum.

Fisher oversees the construction on Blodgett Hall, the slate roof of which is being replaced and is projected to be finished by the third week of November.

The project’s only major setback occurred when heavy rain caused flooding in Blodgett room 210, destroying a printer. “The real point of [replacing the roof] is to protect Blodgett against water damage,” said Fisher.

Fisher is also the project manager for the reconstruction of Main Building, which had its roof restored and will have its lobby elevator replaced. Fisher explained that, as with Blodgett, “The hope is to really prevent water from getting into the building.” According to Fisher, the Main Building roof project is also nearing completion.

The elevator in Main will be shut down on Nov. 1 and will remain out of service until it is completely renovated by early March. Fisher and his team hope to replace the elevator cab, the motor, the sheaves (deeply grooved pulleys), and a portion of the elevator’s roof. The elevator rails and exterior doors will not be changed.

In addition to building renovations, trees on campus will be assessed by Buildings and Grounds and a professional group. Horst is working with the company SavATree, an east coast tree and shrub care company, to inspect 1,500 trees on campus to determine whether or not the trees pose any hazard to pedestrians or buildings.
The company will perform the inspection over the course of one week, and it will take one month to complete the evaluation.

“SavATree evaluates trees in a couple different ways, mostly to test for the density of the wood. First they do a visual inspection, then a hammer test, to hear if it’s hollow or solid,” said Horst. “Then, they use this cool machine called a resistor-graph to drill into the wood and see how much resistance the drill gets going in.”

Meanwhile, Corrigan has been leading the renovations of the multi-purpose rooms (MPRs) in Josselyn, Raymond, Davison, Lathrop, and Strong. Corrigan said that some light fixtures still need to be installed, but the project is mainly complete.
Corrigan described the work on the Raymond, Davison, Lathrop, and Strong MPRs as “a freshening up.”

“We stripped the floors because the tiling had asbestos, and we repainted all the surfaces and installed an acoustic ceiling tile to mute noise from upstairs,” said Corrigan.

The Josselyn MPR, however, required more extensive work.
“It was more of a restoration. We refinished the hardwood floor and interior woodwork and re-stained everything,” said Corrigan. “The existing light fixtures were removed and refinished. We even concealed the sprinkler system, so that unsightly pipes weren’t hanging out of the walls.”

For more information about construction projects at the College, see buildingsandgrounds.vassar.edu/projects.