Melanie Kussell was handed a hard hat when she stepped on campus Aug. 24. Her parents had to wear them, too – everyone had to.

‘(The move-in coordinators) were really nice, but they only gave me literally 20 minutes to put my stuff down,’ she said. ‘My mom really quickly made my bed, and then we had to leave.’

Instead of sleeping in her split-double on the third floor that night, Kussell slept in Watson Hall during her participation in a pre-orientation program.

Ernie Davis Hall, Syracuse University’s first new residence hall in more than 40 years, opened its doors to residents, though officials have not set a final completion date for the project, which has been under construction since February 2008.

The lower-level floors, which include academic classrooms, a fitness center and what will be SU’s largest dining center, will be finished by January, said Eric Beattie, director of campus planning, design and construction. The opening date of the dining center and recreation center depend on how long it takes Food Services and Recreation Services to prepare the new facility, he said.

The dining and recreation centers were not scheduled to open in August, but progress on the lower levels of the nine-story building lagged when the construction schedule’s focus shifted to making sure the building’s residential space would be ready for students to occupy.

‘We think we’ve pretty much maxed out the productivity,’ Beattie said of the work done over the summer.

The above-average rainfall throughout the late spring and summer took its toll on the project, especially the exterior brickwork, said Chuck Bucci, assistant director for new construction.

Despite the added manpower and attention on residential floors 3-9, incoming students still found themselves moving into a construction zone.

One day after officially moving into her dorm room, Kussell awoke to the sound of construction noise at 7:30 a.m. ‘It felt like someone was hammering the window right next to me,’ she said, though she hasn’t been bothered by the noise since, and other residents on the floor said they haven’t been either.

Still Kussell, like many others, was thrilled when she saw the new dorm.

‘I was shocked,’ she said. ‘Our lounges look like a hotel lounge. I don’t feel like I’m living in a college dorm. It feels like I’m in this upscale college life.’

Each floor has study rooms, lounges and a laundry room. The residential rooms and lounges boast floor-to-ceiling windows and colorful modern furniture.

The windows are a favorite feature of Jillian Young, an undeclared freshman.

While Young’s a fan of the aesthetics, she’s not so fond of the alarm system. Young keeps a running tally on her door of the number of times fire alarms cause residents to evacuate the building. She’s witnessed five since moving in Thursday.

Bucci said the alarms are set off by either a defective detector or sensitivity to shower steam in the building’s bathrooms.

A floor below Kussell’s and Young’s rooms, work on the fitness center and dining center is now ‘100 percent full speed ahead,’ said Peter Webber, director of auxiliary services. The remaining construction is ‘relatively quiet work,’ Beattie said, like the installation of kitchen equipment and light fixtures. According to a letter on the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction’s Web site, work will continue from 8 a.m. to at least 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and after 9 a.m. on weekends.

‘The focus – and rightly so – was to get the residential rooms done. So that’s all done, and now we’re refocusing on the dining and all of the equipment,’ Webber said.

Webber says the marketplace-style curved counters for the dining hall are currently being pre-fabricated, and equipment will go inside after the counters are installed. The majority of the kitchen equipment – freezers, coolers, ovens and cook tops – are already in storage and waiting to be moved in.

Since the Ernie Davis Dining Center will be twice the size of every other campus dining facility, Haven Dining Center will only remain open until work on Ernie Davis is complete. When this happens, Haven employees and additional staff will begin working at Ernie Davis.

Work is also continuing on the 10,000-square-foot fitness center. The facility will contain a dance studio, treadmills, elliptical cross trainers, stationary bicycles, rowers, weight machines and free weights that will provide a health club-like atmosphere akin to that of Marshall Square Mall’s fitness center, said Joseph Lore, director of recreation services.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Oct. 2. Fifty years after winning SU’s only national football championship, members of the ’59 team will reunite to commemorate its anniversary, Ernie Davis and the building named in his honor.

bmdavies@syr.edu

Published on August 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm