The
Science of Renovating Occupied Buildings
| When the renovation
of the Clark Science Center intensifies this summer,
the faculty, staff and construction personnel working
side-by-side will know their timing and places. |
Tackling
a major renovation project on a building that is in use is
no small feat.
 The ongoing renovation of the
Clark Science Center will impact hundreds of thousands of
square feet spread throughout several buildings, each housing
ongoing research projects, specialized equipment and dozens
of occupants.
The 18-month project began last
winter and is expected to be completed at the beginning of
2012. While the project encompasses Sabin-Reed and Burton
halls, people in other areas of campus may become aware of
it as the work intensifies this summer. (See below.)
The
renovation follows the opening of Ford Hall, which relieved
crowding in the existing science buildings and allowed the
remaining departments opportunities to consider ways to shift
lab, office and classroom space to better serve instructional
and research needs.
Work on Sabin-Reed and Burton
halls will address numerous aspects of the buildings, from
roof replacements to new electrical wiring and sprinkler
systems, and upgrades to ventilation hoods and access for
people with disabilities. New windows will be installed in
Burton Hall and the corridors in both buildings will be made
over with new signage added. All of this will occur while
some faculty members move offices and labs.
With the approach
of summer, project manager Chad Siebel has rolled out extensive
spreadsheets and detailed instructions to coordinate the
activities of the people who staff and maintain the buildings
and the construction company.
“Information updates are emailed, posted online and often explained in person
and at town meetings to be certain that everyone is aware
of the next step,” said
Siebel, of CSL Consulting in Burlington, Mass. “There are
so many different ways people get their information that
it is important to reach them wherever they are.”
Siebel is managing the project
with Peter Gagnon, capital construction director at Smith,
and oversight by a Renovations Operations Committee comprised
of faculty members Donald Baumer, Mary Harrington, Tom Litwin
and Robert Newton.
If you travel College Lane
College
Lane will be closed to automobile and pedestrian traffic
from May 23 to 26 so that a crane can install the structural
steel that will support the generator on the roof of Sabin-Reed.
The road will also be closed approximately six other times
throughout the summer for the generator installation, roofing
work and exhaust fan work.
If you work in Bass, Burton,
Sabin-Reed and McConnell halls
Power to the buildings will
be shutdown from 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5, through noon on Sunday,
Aug. 14. During that 10-day period, air conditioning, office
and bathroom lighting and convenience power outlets that
serve such items as computers, printers and desk lights will
not have any power supply. The computer servers will be affected,
too, so that the sciences Web pages will temporarily redirect
users to a page that notifies them about the shutdown. Emergency
lighting, refrigerators and freezers for research will remain
on.
If you work in Burton and Sabin-Reed
The
corridors of both buildings will be redone throughout the
summer, meaning that you can expect objects crowding the
space. Work on the roofs will also mean you’ll hear construction
noises.
If you work in Burton Hall
Building-wide
window replacement will require occupants to vacate their
office space for a three-day period when the construction
company works on their office. The schedule of replacement
will begin on the third level on May 23.
If you work in
Sabin-Reed Hall
You’ll need to box your office
supplies and remove wall hangings so that movers can transport
your items to your new space. out of existing spaces and into new
spaces as well as .
If
you work in Ford Hall
The 10-day power shutdown to the sciences
buildings will result in the loss of wireless computer service
to Ford. |
