Quad-side stairs remain unfinished

Julianne Herts Guest Writer

The four sets of dormitory stairs facing the residential quad have been undergoing renovations since August. To the surprise and frustration of many students, not one of the entrances has been completed. Finally, after numerous delays, the construction project is nearing its conclusion and may be finished as soon as the week after Thanksgiving.

“In short, about one week’s worth of work remains until the stairs can be opened,” said Buildings and Grounds Project Manager Brian Corrigan. “We are waiting for the wrought iron hand and guardrails to return from the galvanizing shop. Once the rails return, they will be painted and installed.”

The process of galvanizing involves coating the rails with zinc in order to create a protective layer to guard against corrosion. The galvanized rails were due back the week of Nov. 5, but were not delivered on time.

After considerable difficulty, Corrigan managed to contact the rail fabricator who performed the galvanization, and now expects the rails to be installed the week of Nov. 26, though the renovations were initially expected to be completed by the end of August.

According to Corrigan the project first went off course in the middle of the summer when it became clear that the foundations of the stairs needed to be redesigned, a process that had to be completed before new slabs and handrails could be ordered.

“It was really a snowball effect,” said Corrigan. “What did not help matters was the fact that a new general contractor was used who was not familiar with the campus or the client team. The team must be a well-oiled machine if one hopes for any success on these compressed schedule summer projects.”

Andrew Bennett ’09, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Dormitory Renovations Coordinator said that the complications from the construction have inconvenienced students all semester.

“Using absurdly conservative numbers, I have estimated that students have lost a combined total of 290 hours due to the quad-side doors of Davison and Raymond being closed,” said Bennett. “This assumes that residents only come into the buildings twice daily from the direction of ACDC [All College Dining Center]—an assumption that is probably well below the actual data. The actual figure is probably closer to 700 hours.”

Bennett clocked the amount of time it took for students to cross to the west side of building, rather than entering from the more convenient east side entrances, as they usually would.

Bennett also attributed the renovation delays to the new contractor. “It concerns many students, especially in light of the Davison House renovation next year, that projects at Vassar take so long to complete,” said Bennett. Bennet said that the College has assured him that they will not employ the contractor for this project for the Davison renovation, and the contractor will likely not take part in any other project at Vassar for a long time.

“Vassar has relationships with other contractors who have proved themselves competent to deliver a quality product on schedule,” he said.