Binghamton University continued its campus makeover last school year, and now the fall 2009 semester reveals the next wave of the finished construction.
Bingham Hall, the first building of the new East Campus dormitory communities, which will eventually replace both Newing and Dickinson Colleges, is officially open to students. The building is corridor style, with every three rooms sharing a bathroom.
“The air conditioning in the new building is going to come in when the rest of the buildings are online because the unit itself is located in the new dining hall [named the Chenango Collegiate Center], which is scheduled for completion in 2011,” said Karen Fennie, director of physical facilities.
According to Residential Life, since air conditioning will not be available this school year, the cost of living in Bingham Hall is reduced by $200 per semester. However, with the price down to $3,426 per semester, it is still $153 more than the old buildings.
Over the summer, the old Bingham Hall and Broome Hall were demolished, and the demolition of the Newing Dining Hall will take place over the next few weeks.
“The demolition was part of getting ready for buildings two, three and four of Newing and the Chenango Collegiate Center,” Fennie said. “They have gotten all of the equipment and salvaged all they can from the dining hall; we plan to have most of it down before the students come in.”
In preparation for the upcoming construction, Residential Life sent out e-mails to all students residing in Newing College informing them that there will be some excess noise in the area during construction.
“If we keep the students informed of what is going on, the process goes more smoothly,” Fennie said. “Once the building is enclosed it doesn’t affect the students. Putting up the steel is what makes the most noise.”
According to Fennie, residential halls in other communities have also been upgraded over the summer. Oneida Hall in College-in-the-Woods had asbestos removed. In previous summers, both Cayuga and Seneca Halls had the same process completed.
In addition to the East Campus construction, the Old University Union renovations are complete. Fennie plans to put before-and-after pictures of the construction on the University’s Web site.
The summer construction of Lecture Hall is almost complete as well. Improvements and landscaping have been made to the south entrance across from Hinman Community.
“We also did some upgrades in Lecture Hall 9,” Fennie said. “We put new flooring and seating and it was painted. Lecture Hall 1 had the flooring replaced in the aisleways. The rest of the floor will be replaced next summer. We worked around summer courses. There were a lot of conferences and class schedules that had to be worked around.”
The construction of Science V is well underway with most of the steel beams in place, and the Engineering and Science Building is being constructed across Murray Hill Road. According to Fennie, these two buildings are to be complete by August 2011.
Smaller projects were also happening on campus, including a new outdoor patio space added to the Fine Arts Cafe.
“It’s been very, very busy,” Fennie said. “A lot of these projects were fast-tracked. We have been able to meet the deadlines and hopefully make improvements that students can enjoy.”