When Michelle McClafferty returned to campus this week, she said she was surprised to see the incomplete Ernie Davis Hall appear so close to completion.

McClafferty, a senior policy studies, religion and sociology major, said she was amazed by how much construction was done over break, especially with the Syracuse weather.

‘I won’t be sure what I think of it until it’s done, though,’ she said.

The new residence hall at 619 Comstock Ave. began construction last February, and is slated to be complete in August. But the projected timeline for the building project was not without its setbacks.

Rex Giardine, assistant director of capital projects, said weather and financial problems occurred but have since been ironed out.

‘The contractor has been striving to finish on time by working on several weekends,’ he said. ‘They’ve largely been able to catch up on things, though.’

Giardine said changes in development plans for the building have been minor and taken care of.

The total cost of the construction project is $54 million. But with the nation’s troubled economic climate this past year, prices for the delivery of construction equipment have increased.

The 140,000-gross-square-foot building is broken up into what Giardine calls bid packages. The structure, foundations, railings, equipment and other materials are separated into packages delivered to the university.

‘We found that the bidding climate was a little tougher when gas prices were higher,’ Giardine said. ‘We had some packages that came in at a higher price, but it’s evened out now and gone back down.’

The projected nine-floor residence hall is now an eight-floor concrete and scaffolding skeleton visible to main campus. The hall will house 250 first-year students and upperclassmen. It will offer 125 single rooms designed for upperclassmen and split-double rooms available for first-year students.

Michelle Sollod, a sophomore economics and international relations major, is studying abroad this fall, but said if she weren’t she would have liked to live in the new building. It will also be home to a two-story dining hall and a 10,600-square-foot recreation facility located on the second floor.

‘I lived in Dellplain Hall my freshman year and it didn’t have anything,’ Sollod said. ‘No dining hall. No recreation facility. So, I think it would be great to have it all in one place.’

But the comprehensive setup has its critics.

SU senior McClafferty called it risky.

‘It doesn’t really encourage people to get out and do things,’ she said. ‘If you can do everything in one building, then why ever leave?’

Sollod said she thinks the university needs more residence halls on campus.

Ernie Davis Hall was named to commemorate the legendary running back’s life and his 1961 feat of being the first African-American to earn the Heisman Trophy. It is Syracuse University’s first new residential building in more than 40 years.

‘I think a lot of the things we had to put into other residence halls in the past, like network wiring, will now be done seamlessly and cohesively,’ Giardine said.

Because technological innovations are bound to occur within 40 years, the university has had to go back and retrofit phone and other electrical wiring into older residence halls, Giardine said. The rooms will also feature a more modern design than the older residence halls.

‘I think it will be really cool,’ Sollod said. ‘Though it would have been cooler if it could have been ready when I was a freshman,’ she said, smiling.

blbump@syr.edu

Published on January 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm