{"id":155538,"date":"2023-07-03T14:24:03","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T18:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=155538"},"modified":"2023-08-01T09:31:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T13:31:57","slug":"campus-construction-update-july-6-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/03\/campus-construction-update-july-6-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Construction Update: July 6, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Still a constellation of construction hotspots, but with Bates folks scheduled to move back in by the second week of August, newly refurbished Chase Hall had a certain air of anticipation when we visited last week \u2014 something along the lines of, \u201cIs it Christmas yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Ralphie, we\u2019re getting there. Parts of the building are all but finished, sitting empty and quiet, such as the first-floor Purposeful Work suite and the second-floor corridor that parallels Campus Avenue. On the second floor, in fact, the conclusive inspection protocol known as punch-listing began last Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The “Overnook,\u201d a distinctive seating area in Chase Hall\u2019s first-floor lobby, looks spiffy with new wall board and paint on June 27. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In other Chase spaces, though, the 15-month renovation continues full tilt, with tools and supplies fully deployed, various plastics protecting new finishes, extension cords feeding power from temporary electrical boxes, and sprinkler hoses and data cables dangling from open ceiling grids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the big picture, as we\u2019ve reported previously<\/a>, project management firm Consigli Construction expects to hand control of the building back to Bates by the end of July. An interesting focus of attention at the moment is the fire protection system, which includes \u2014 in addition to alarms, sprinklers, and illuminated exit signs \u2014 controls that, in the event of a fire, switch off the electromagnets that hold certain doors open. The resulting automatic closures of those strategically placed doors can help contain a blaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Once
Once the location of student mailboxes and the entrance to the College Store, this ground-floor space in Chase Hall will soon be a student lounge. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another system that\u2019s desirable to have in place by the time people move back in, though not directly related to life-safety, comprises local controls for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, says Bates Project Manager Kristi Mynhier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, there are gizmos that tell the system when humans enter a room so that local air flow and temperature will adjust to accommodate their comfort \u2014 an amenity that, in the interest of energy conservation, is otherwise quiescent. Those devices are known as occupancy sensors. Professionals call them as \u201cocc sensors,\u201d but that strikes us as occward jargon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bond \u2014 projecting Flemish bond<\/strong>: When we visited on June 27, bricklayers were piecing in a bold decorative pattern known as projecting Flemish bond on either side of the main Campus Avenue entrance. Over the entrance, the wooden form for a stainless steel awning was in place. Stainless panels on either side lent a sense of how all the steel trim might look when it’s complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the corner near the Muskie Archives, new facing had been applied to the sides of the former Chase loading dock, which is becoming a sort of patio. A new floor surface, railings, and outdoor furniture are coming soon. Together with gray asphalt pavers that were recently laid at either side, the area will be known as a plaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A glazier for Cumberland County Glass touches up a new door at the entrance to the Residence Life office suite. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside, specifically in Chase Hall Lounge, new \u201cfaux beams\u201d have joined the originals. None of these non-load-bearing features hold up the ceiling, but they do prettify it, and the new faux beams will contain light fixtures, so they can lord that sense of practical purpose over the old beams. New hardwood floorboards for the lounge were stacked in the first-floor lobby to acclimate and will be laid near the end of the renovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But new oak stair steps are already being installed on the central stair, a sort of three-dimensional crossroads that connects four levels of the building. The job involves two trades, as carpenters fasten the wood in place and rout out a rectangular depression to fit rubber treads, which will then be glued in by flooring installers. Easier to replace than the wooden steps, the inserts will take the wear from all the feet that use the stair (a song lyric in the making!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painters are coating the walls throughout the central stair. (And they\u2019ve finished that eye-catching saturated red on the elevator\u2019s wallboard enclosure.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"So-called
So-called storefront glass at the entrance to Chase Hall\u2019s Center for Purposeful Work. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Painting is in progress in the first-floor lobby, too, including the new Overnook, that slightly elevated seating area along one wall. Before too long, it will sport new steel railings, which are being fabricated in a pattern resembling the famed Bates Manufacturing bedspreads once woven in Lewiston. And that lobby is being cleared of building supplies, aside from the lounge floorboards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the upper level of the ground floor \u2014 let\u2019s try that again. On what has been called the loading dock level and is now the plaza level \u2014 see above \u2014 the Residence Life office suite has made big strides since our last visit. Glass doors have been hung at the entrance, most utility terminal fixtures are in place, shiny fan-coil heater-coolers cling to the walls, and fresh paint abounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/div>
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\"Temporarily

Temporarily a place to store paint, this is the future home of the Bates Musicians Union. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"Here\u2019s

Here\u2019s a view of the central stair approached from Chase Hall\u2019s first-floor lobby. The red walls enclose the elevator shaft. The two ladders stand at the entrance to the Office of Intercultural Education. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"Chase

Chase Hall\u2019s new air handling machine. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"The

The “Overnook,\u201d a distinctive seating area in Chase Hall\u2019s first-floor lobby, looks spiffy with new wallboard and paint on June 27. Sections of air duct are currently stashed there. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"This

This hardwood flooring will be installed in Chase Hall Lounge toward the end of the Chase renovation. Shown on June 27, it was stored in the Chase Hall lobby to acclimate. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"New

New landscaping in front of Chase Hall on a gray day in June. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"A

A handrail awaits its installation in a new stairwell in Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"Floor-to-ceiling

Floor-to-ceiling glass admits a lot of light into this new “huddle” meeting room in the Residence Life offices. A former Dining Services loading dock, just outside the glass, will be transformed into a patio. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"Once

Once the Chase Hall loading dock, this concrete platform is being transformed into a patio. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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Good griddance<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Since our last visit to Coram 110, the future site of Bates\u2019 Immersive Media Studio<\/a>, its walls have been stripped of features. With the goal of rendering the walls into a smooth white surface suitable for image projection, the space has lost, among other things, interior window frames, chalkboards and projection screens, ventilation grilles, outlets for electricity and data, and a species of wood trim called a chair rail that kept belligerent furniture from roughing up the walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While daylight was abundant in the room during our visit, the outdoors won\u2019t be viewable from the former classroom for long: Plywood panels that we saw stacked against the walls will soon block the window openings on the inside, although the exterior frames will remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Precision
Precision Builders staff examine a window frame bound for removal in Coram 110. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But you know the old saying: When a window closes, a ceiling grid appears, and that\u2019s what has happened in Coram 110. Specifically, it\u2019s a theatrical-grade pipe grid. Composed of black 1.5-inch steel pipe, this sturdy frame will enable studio users \u201cto hang anything anywhere,\u201d said Senior Project Manager Paul Farnsworth, referring to the lights, projectors, speakers, and other gear (disco balls?) that will provide images and sounds for productions in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceiling will be painted black so as not to draw attention away from the immersive art and performance action taking place below. The floor, too, will be black, in the form of quartz tiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Here\u2019s
Here\u2019s a close view of the ceiling grid that will be used to hang sound and imaging equipment for Bates\u2019 new Immersive Media Studio, in Coram Library. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An adjacent room will be equipped as the studio\u2019s control center, home to the high-powered technology that will drive productions in the studio. In the early project planning, that function was located right in 110 itself. But the erstwhile occupant of the room next door, Michael Hanrahan, Bates\u2019 director for curricular and research computing, volunteered to move his office to Hedge Hall, thereby freeing more space for productions in the studio itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The control room, Farnsworth pointed out, houses one of the two massive fireplaces that originally helped to heat Coram, built in 1902. That fireplace has long been hidden behind wall board \u2014 but workers drilled through an upper corner of its 120-year-old brick facade to make way for cables that will connect the 21st-century control center to the immersive-studio gizmos on the ceiling grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about worlds colliding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"On
On the staging, electricians make connections on the ceiling grid that will support imaging and sound equipment when the conversion of Coram 110 into Bates\u2019 Immersive Media Studio is complete. At floor level is a carpenter. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Pad notes<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At Garcelon Field, the 13-year-old FieldTurf was removed during the third week of June in preparation for a new playing surface, which is being laid now. When we visited on June 27, the dirt substrate had been graded and a small crew from the project contractor, R.A.D. Sports of Rockland, Mass., was placing a layer of shock-absorbent turf pads that would buffer between the ground and the playing surface itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Placing
Placing shock-absorbing turf pads on Garcelon Field as an underlayment for the forthcoming Legion playing surface. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Weighing just a few pounds apiece, the pads are composed of an aggregate of recycled chunks of soft rubber or plastic. It took 4,275 of them to blanket the field, which measures about 100,000 square feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are laid held together by tabs and indents superficially resembling jigsaw puzzle pieces, but in regular shapes and intervals, making the pad layer easy to assemble but not much fun on a rainy day up to camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, 40 or so plastic-wrapped rolls of the new playing surface itself, a Shaw Sports Turf product called Legion, were stockpiled around Garcelon along with giant sacks of the sand-and-rubber-crumb infill that will finish the installation. Placement of the Legion started this week, with infill to follow by mid-July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/div>
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\"In

In this June 21 image, the Garcelon Field crew from R.A.D. Sports has finished removing the 2010 FieldTurf surface. (Aaron Morse\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"In

In this June 27 image, Garcelon Field has been stripped of its old playing surface and the placement of shock-absorbing panels on the bare ground is about to begin. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"Stockpiled

Stockpiled near the Garcelon Field scoreboard on June 27 are shock pads that will underlay the field\u2019s new playing surface. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

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\"Placing

Placing shock-absorbing turf pads on Garcelon Field as an underlayment for the forthcoming Legion playing surface. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"The

The turf pads that form a shock-absorbing layer underneath the Garcelon playing surface are made from recycled materials. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"Shown

Shown near Central Avenue on June 27 are some of the 40 rolls of Shaw Sports Turf that will soon be placed on Garcelon Field. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Ring, but no swing<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Over at Hathorn Hall, someone cut a big hole in the third-floor ceiling. All part of the plan, of course, as retractable stairs will eventually be installed in the hole to improve access to the building\u2019s attic and its historic bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the hole in the ceiling (something that some of us get to enjoy with no effort whatsoever!), the project team addressed two other objectives that will make the completion of the overall project easier and safer. One was the installation of several long LED light fixtures, replacing a few dim, widely dispersed lamps. The other was the creation of new walkways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"This
This opening in a third-floor ceiling in Hathorn Hall will eventually house a retractable stairway providing access to the attic. Before that\u2019s installed, though, HVAC machines will be swapped out through the hole. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hole, by the way, will come in handy during next week when old HVAC machines and ductwork are removed from the attic and a new machine is winched up there for installation. Cote Corp. of Auburn will handle that rigging job. Sometime later, the hole will be smallified to fit the new stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HVAC upgrade is a major goal of the Hathorn project. A second is to improve access to the bell, whose ringing mechanism will be replaced in hopes of returning the bell to its former prominence. In response to a question from Bruce Lyman \u201967, we learned that an electromagnetic striker will supplant the current winch and cable that currently swing the bell. (It hasn\u2019t been determined whether the striker will contact the inside of the bell or the outside.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"With
With new walkways and lighting in place, the attic of Hathorn Hall is a much safer and more agreeable place to work. New HVAC equipment will be installed there soon. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A necessary concession to cost and practicality, the proposed striker will mean the bell no longer swings to ring. But a representative of the ringing mechanism provider, Elderhorst Bells Inc. of Palm, Pa., assures us that the striker can be made to emulate the characteristic, romantic \u201cdouble ring\u201d of a swinging bell before it comes to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we talk<\/strong>? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions and comments about past, present, future, and past-perfect construction at Bates to dhubley@bates.edu<\/em><\/a>, with \u201cCampus Construction\u201d or \u201cYou used that Flemish bond joke<\/a> already before!\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still a constellation of construction hotspots, but with Bates folks scheduled to return in August, Chase Hall had a certain air of anticipation last week \u2014 something along the lines of, \u201cIs it Christmas yet?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":155560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1,11009],"tags":[1932,10837,11652,3748,4096],"class_list":["post-155538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews","category-the-college","tag-campus-construction-updates","tag-chase-hall","tag-coram-library","tag-garcelon-field","tag-hathorn-hall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155538"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155895,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155538\/revisions\/155895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}