Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Collegetown Terrace Mid-April Photos

April 22, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

I was invited to take photos on the Collegetown Terrace site last week through Welliver the General Contractor, so here’s a selection of photos from the south side of the site, and a few taken from the north on the 21st. Building 5 and 6 still have sections of fiber cement panels to install (mostly along the north sides), but the southern facades seem complete minus the areas for synthetic stucco, which are applied with a grey base layer, then a tan-colored finish coat.

Concrete forms and rebar rods have been set for the outside stair section at the west end of Building 5, and very large landscaping boulders are being assembled along the hillside just south of the workout facility. Building 5’s eastern stairwell has also been fully-clad in glass panelling. I was mistaken in earlier posts about the timing for Building 7: due to the appeal to reduce planned parking and increase housing units before the City of Ithaca Board of Zoning Appeals, and the fact that the building is still in design phase, the timing for the project will probably fall into next year for starting excavation and sitework.

Buildings 5 then 6 (left to right):
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Building 5 south face:
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Building 5 north face (on right):
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Site Plan:
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My thanks to Welliver for the site visit

Cornell Law School Expansion & Renovation Project

April 18, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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This project was out of public view for the majority of it, but I think it’s definitely worth the visit. The barricades have been removed, so I took a few photos. The new wing is underground, and hosts a lobby space, studying areas, and three new classrooms, along with a re-landscaped Purcell courtyard, and a renovated entryway to Myron Taylor Hall. The project started back in the summer of 2012.

There’s still a live camera feed to the project area, and the Law School hosts an information page with design renders and layouts. Birdseye view of the layout is below:

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The original announcement indicated that this project is actually the first expansion for about 25 years, since the Jane Foster Library Addition was added in 1987. The feed from the live cam has been condensed into a time-lapse video of the entire duration of the project.

The project was built by Welliver, and designed by Ann Beha, an architect that specializes in new additions that blend with traditional architecture.

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New Wing:

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Purcell Courtyard:

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Myron Taylor Hall (renovated entryway):

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Renders and Time-Lapse Images property of Cornell University Law School

Planned Parenthood Project Photo Update

April 14, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Photos of this Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes project taken last week, but exterior siding and fiber-cement facade panel installation look complete, as well as recently-placed granite curbing along the drive entry and Seneca Street. It’s hard to tell from the outside, but it looks as if the walls are all framed, and electric, plumbing, and mechanicals are roughed-in, but finish-work like drop ceiling grids and drywall are continuing. Once the remaining windows, shades, signage, doors, lighting fixtures, and roofing fascia boards are installed, the building itself should look relatively complete on the outside.

This project is being constructed by LeChase Construction, and is designed by Chiang O’Brien Architects.

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Longest Night Solstice Towers Utility & Roof Work Photos

April 13, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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Tower one has made progress on interior electric rough-in, sanitary plumbing rough-in (water supply lines will follow-up shortly), and insulation, while tower two is finishing-up interior framing. On the exterior, new lateral utility services have been installed on the eastern 5′ setback, including buried sprinkler and domestic ductile water lines, a 1/8″ to 1/4″ pitched PVC sanitary sewage lateral (green), 1 1/2″ diameter electric conduit for power, 3/4″ diameter pipe for data and telephone (grey lines wrapping around wall footer), a gas line, and new NYSEG electric meters mounted on both tower side walls. The service trench was backfilled with crushed #2 gravel, layered between blankets of soil.

 

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Plumbing by Warden Plumbing, excavation and backfill by Kirksway Farm, and electric by Shisler Electrical Contractors.

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Hale Roofing Inc has completed the roofing installation by applying a Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) single-ply roofing membrane over gypsum fiber roof board underlayment:

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Typical cross-section (with steel decking):
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The black aluminum gutter and downspout will collect roof water runoff out of the open slot in the parapet wall, which then funnels underneath the drive lane through a drain pipe, then to irrigation drip lines along fencing to provide water to plantings along the fence:

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Project by Architect John Barradas and Partners, construction by Ciappa & Marinelli Builders

Purity Ice Cream Construction Photos & Final Interior Design

April 12, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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The Purity Ice Cream project is reaching drywall-finish stage as demolition finished-up back in February, then the bathrooms, former entry, new entryway, seating, and serving areas were re-framed by Strawbridge and Jahn Builders and outfitted with mechanicals. A new trench was dug and filled across the parking lot for an improved underground power service, while all the electric was re-wired by Richardson Brothers Electric. New lighting fixtures, an entirely new HVAC system, and plumbing have been roughed-in. Drywall and cement boards have been hung, taped, mudded, and the seams were being sanded down this past week.

Stop by Purity this weekend to take a look, they’re serving 12-6

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Architecture & Design by John Snyder Architects

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Important Tip for this Spring: no longer a door here; new entrance will be to the right
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Goldwin Smith Roofing & Klarman Hall Groundwork Project Photos

April 9, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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There’s been some considerable equipment mobilization on this site since late March with the addition of a boom crane and a pile hammer, possibly a vibratory model for noise and speed considerations. The pile hammer is for beam shoring (geo-shoring) along East Avenue, in order to hold the hill together once the site is dug out quite far down for Klarman’s footprint. After the steel beams are in ground, they are followed-up with lagging boards, which are affixed to the beams for soil retention.

Goldwin Smith Hall’s central eastern-side roof has progressed with re-slating and new metal roofing installation, which will continue along that end, and also the south wing’s southern side. The schedule indicates that underpinnings on the south wing of Goldwin Smith Hall have been completed, and will continue along the rotunda area this month.

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Steel Beams for Shoring:
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Cross-section of Klarman Hall design along East Ave.:
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More photos from April 6th:

Photos from March 29th:

Collegetown Terrace Early April Photo Update

April 8, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Some facade-panelling has progressed on Collegetown Terrace‘s Buildings 5 & 6 since mid-march, and Building 5’s eastern stairwell has its steel window wall framing installed, so glass should follow-up soon to match the installation currently on Building 6’s western end. The stairwell ends were used for loading-in building materials, so the closing-up is probably a good sign that the interior is well on its way.

Building 5 south face:

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Building 5 east end:
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Building 5 north face:
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Thurston Avenue Apartments Framing Blitz

April 6, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Highland House Thurston Avenue Apartments project being constructed by G.M. Crisalli has made some impressive framing progress, as Buildings C & D have topped their final storeys since late March, and Building B has gone up another storey, and is almost ready for its third and final. I’ve learned that Building A, the smaller building that had been planned for the right-side entry on this site has been postponed. Building A would have contained 2 one-bedroom units, so the pending unit count on this current project is now 15 three-bedrooms and 3 four-bedrooms:

Thurston Ave Apartments Inventory

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Photos from April 6th:

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Photos from March 29th:

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Commons Rebuild: Telecom Vaults & Gas Line

April 1, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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The Commons Rebuild project entered Phase Three this past month, as Vacri Construction is back on site digging-out trenches for the installation of telecom pipe ducts and utility vaults (the large pre-formed concrete blocks with manhole access).  The duct bank run along the western end near Cayuga Street is being worked on right now.

In addition to the duct piping and vaults, NYSEG is installing a new gas main along several of the outside edges of the construction fence to replace the old one. The concrete slab is cut and removed in sections, then several feet of soil is dug out to install the piping. The gas main is not part of Vacri’s contract, but since the gas main is quite old, NYSEG requested to replace it during the same timeframe since the project presents an ideal opportunity to do so.  As of now, the concrete is cut, but not yet removed.

 

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CrossFit Pallas is Going Up on Cherry Street

March 31, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Well, this one caught me by surprise, but courtesy of a heads-up email (thanks Charles), I grabbed some photos today of this gym structure well underway as of a few weeks ago. I last wrote about the plans back in December, when renders for the 10,368 square foot building on Cherry Street to house CrossFit Pallas and a Boxing Gym were released in site plan review. The owners currently have a gym at 711 West Court Street, but the space is quite small compared with this footprint- here’s their website, and it has a page explaining what CrossFit is.

The structure is actually wood-framed, faced with corrugated metal panels, and what appears to be laminated veneer lumber (LVLs) for the rafters and also LVLs braced diagonally along the top structure walls. The major joints are joined with steel brackets, and the structure is not sitting on a pad, but a graded bed of gravel, with pre-formed concrete support blocks. The rest should probably go up quite fast.

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