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Campus enhancements on tap for Upstate

Campus enhancements on tap for Upstate

Caption: A view from Weiskotten Hall’s front entrance east to Irving Avenue. In 2016, plans are to extend the straight entranceway from Weiskotten Hall’s front door to the Irving Avenue sidewalk to create a more formal entrance befitting the building’s historic nature and campus prestige.

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Plenty of exterior campus upgrades are on tap for this spring and summer and next year at Upstate Medical University.

One of the more dramatic enhancements will be a complete renovation of the landscape and entranceway to the Campus Activities Building (C.A.B.).  The work will replace all concrete structures and the walkway from the front door of the C.A.B. to Elizabeth Blackwell Street, and include more than two dozen trees that will be planted to line the walkway.

“The redo of the entrance way to the C.A.B. will be significant and reflect the important role this building plays on campus,” said Tom Pelis, assistant vice president for facilities and planning.

The C.A.B. entranceway renovation is expected to begin in mid May and take several months to complete.  Access through the C.A.B. West entrance will be restricted during this time.

One project that will add convenience and comfort, especially during inclement weather, will be the installation of a canopy over the portion of the sidewalk on the east side of Sarah Loguen Street.  The canopy will start at the curb cut where buses pick up and drop off passengers and connect to the Garage East entrance several yards away.

Once the canopy work is complete, individuals who take the bus will now be able to walk from the bus stop to Garage East to use the pedestrian bridge across East Adams Street and stay protected from the elements.  Project timetable is June to October 2015.

One corner of the busy intersection of Irving Avenue and Harrison Street will be transformed into a formal entrance way to the university campus with an appropriate campus welcome sign. The sidewalk from Harrison Street to East Adams Street that runs adjacent to the east side of the C.A.B. will also be replaced. This project will be completed in June.

The sidewalk, curb repair and replacement project that has been under way in front of Weiskotten Hall since early April is nearing completion.  But more work is planned in front of Weiskotten Hall.  “We are looking at extending the walkway from the front of Weiskotten Hall all the way to Irving Avenue which will help create a dramatic entrance to this historic building,” Pelis said. Currently the entrance way to Weiskotten Hall does not extend straight to the sidewalk; two semicircular walkways take pedestrians to either side of the Weiskotten Hall’s front yard. Work will be completed in summer of 2016

Pelis said plans are in the works to transform a south entrance of Weiskotten Hall (across from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center) in to a more formal entryway into the building. This work would be included in a total renovation of the south campus area, from the intersection of Irving Avenue and University Place to Silverman Hall that would include enhancements to parking and pedestrian access.  Project timetable is 2016 to 2017.

Pelis said a number of the contractors being used for these projects are minority and women-owned businesses.  Upstate has taken a number of steps to increase participation from minority and women-owned businesses in campus construction and improvements projects.

Pelis said the work will not only improve campus design, but also enhance campus safety as crumbling concrete sidewalks and walkways will be repaired or replaced.

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