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If there is one constant on the Cornell campus, it's construction signs. Something is always being razed, refurbished, expanded, or built. In recent years students, faculty, and staff have had to dodge around barricades at dozens of projects, from the renovation of venerable buildings like White Hall to the erection of such stateof- the-art structures as the new North Campus dorms and Duffield Hall. But that, it turns out, was just the preamble. Over the next decade, construction will begin on capital projects totaling more than $1 billion--the biggest building boom on the Hill in forty years.

"If you look at the growth of the campus, since 1950 more than 1 million square feet have been added in every decade," says Steve Campbell, the University's associate vice president for facilities services. "The last big growth spurt was in the Sixties, when more than 2 million square feet were added at the same time we hired a lot of new faculty. And just as those faculty are now coming of age and retiring, the same is true of the buildings."

Colleges are "loath to tear down anything," says Campbell, so Cornell will renovate many older facilities over the next ten years. But there will also be an explosion of new construction, including some very large buildings. Ground was recently broken for the 250,000-square-foot Life Sciences Technology Building, slated for completion in 2007. Another facility of about the same size will be constructed for the physical sciences, on a site adjacent to Clark Hall. And President Lehman's call for Cornell to be a leader on "wisdom in the age of digital information" mandates a new facility for computer science, on a site not yet determined. According to Campbell, that structure could be as big--or bigger--than the Life Sciences Technology Building.

The sheer bulk of such buildings is attributable to the demands of modern scientific research. "Laboratory buildings are by nature huge and monolithic," Campbell says. "These are big spaceships that are landing on campus. Their siting and how they align with the fabric of campus are big issues. Is this going to continue to be a pastoral campus of green hills with buildings dotting it? Or is it going to be an urban campus with walls of buildings?"

The strong desire of most Cornellians to maintain green space and open vistas means we may have to reshape our notion of what constitutes the core campus. In the future, there could be new academic centers to the east of the Ag Quad--groups of buildings that will spread the campus infrastructure over a wider area. This suggests the need for a master plan that looks forward to the University's sesquicentennial--and beyond.

In recent years, Cornell has not had a formal master plan, although there have been plans for the "precincts" into which the campus has been divided and there have been generally recognized principles to guide campus development, says Hal Craft '60, PhD '70, the University's longtime vice president for administration, who retired at the end of April. "For instance, we have followed the principle of concentrating academic activity in the core of the campus," says Craft. "Whether that will continue to hold true in the future, I don't know."

Such questions will be tackled by Campbell and his new boss, Stephen Golding, who assumed the post of executive vice president for finance and administration on May 2. Developing a master plan, Campbell says, would provide a "logical context for development" and help to streamline the regulatory-approval process. In addition to designating the areas where future buildings will be sited and spelling out how such ancillary concerns as access roads and landscaping should be handled, it's likely to include provisions for more parking--a prospect sure to startle campus veterans accustomed to seeing parking spaces swallowed by new buildings.

Cornell is not alone in its relentless expansion. In March, a "Campus Architecture" supplement to the Chronicle of Higher Education cited a speech by President Lee Bollinger of Columbia University in which he said, "Most universities seem to grow a million square feet a decade. Two million is not unusual."At Cornell, the commitment to "any study" makes the imperative for such rapid growth almost inevitable. As the boundaries of disciplines expand--and overlap--new facilities are required to accommodate research and collaboration. The need for the Life Sciences Technology Building can be traced back to the mid-1990s, when faculty began to realize the implications of genomics and biomedical research. Such developments are now driving the plans for the physical sciences building, the computer science center, and other projects.

The interdisciplinary nature of much current research poses unique challenges. In addition to constructing new buildings, Cornell will have to expand its information technology connections, both within the central campus and between Ithaca and the medical college in New York City. It also means that new buildings should have flexible floor plans, so they can be altered to meet future research needs without extensive renovation. Such flexibility comes at a high price."We're trying to build generic lab facilities that aren't tailored to a specific discipline or department," says Campbell,"but building in flexibility increases the initial cost."

As costly as many of these capital projects are, Cornell must continue to expand if it is to retain its position as an academic leader. The following pages highlight some of the major renovation and building projects that have been completed since 1995, are under way now, and are anticipated for the upcoming decade. This overview is by no means comprehensive--there are many more projects on the books or being considered, and others are sure to be proposed. It also does not include projects away from the central campus, such as the construction of the new Lab of Ornithology. But it does, we hope, give a sense of how the Hill is being transformed, and will continue to be transformed, by this unprecedented building boom.

Projects Completed 1995-2005
(1) Ho Plaza Location: Former Central Avenue, from Campus Road to McGraw Tower Type: Replace roadway with pedestrian mall Start date: June 1994 Completion date: May 1995 Total cost: $2 million Architect: John Ullberg Conversion of the Central Avenue cul de sac to a pedestrian mall that supports student activities and serves as a gateway to central campus.	(2) Sage Hall Location: East Avenue and Campus Road Type: Restoration and reconstruction Start date: April 1996 Completion date: August 1998 Total cost: $38 million Architect: The Hillier Group Reconstruction of the 1874 landmark structure, providing the Johnson School with 60 percent more space than its former home, Malott Hall. Key features include a trading center with live data from world financial markets, a “negotiations laboratory,” and the return of the building's spire, which had been missing for fifty years.
(3) McGraw Tower Location: Arts Quad Type: Renovation Start date: January 1998 Completion date: April 1999 Total cost: $2 million Architect: Project manager James Bucko Restoration of the 173-foot clock tower erected in 1891 to house chimes donated by Jennie McGraw. Along with repairs to the exterior mortar and sandstone, the tower's nineteen chimes were tuned and two additional bells were cast.	(4) Lincoln Hall Location: Arts Quad Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: March 1998 Completion date: September 2000 Total cost: $19 million Architect: Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott Original building was renovated and a 19,000-square-foot wing attached to the east façade, providing the music library with 70 percent more space, as well as acoustically engineered classrooms and practice rooms, a two-story gamelan room, and a digital music lab.
(5) Mews Hall, Court Hall, and Appel Commons Location: North Campus Type: Construction Start date: March 2000 Completion date: August 2001 Architect: Mews Hall and Court Hall: The Hillier Group; Appel Commons: Dagit Saylor Architects Total cost: $15 million each for Mews and Court; $11 million for Appel Commons To create a new home for first-year students, a large site was prepared and three buildings constructed: a pair of 90,000-square-foot, 260-bed residence halls and a student center with a 600-seat marketplacetype dining hall, a large multipurpose room, and a fitness center.	(6) Friedman Wrestling Center Location: Campus Road, east of Bartels Hall Type: Construction Start date: November 2000 Completion date: October 2002 Total cost: $3.5 million Architect: Cannon Design The only freestanding wrestling-only facility on an American university campus, this 15,000-square-foot building houses a competition/training arena, plus offices, locker areas, and training and weight rooms.
(7) White Hall Location: Arts Quad Type: Renovation Start date: June 2000 Completion date: January 2003 Total cost: $12 million Architect: Peter Gisolfi Associates Complete renovation of one of Cornell's original “Stone Row” buildings. The Florentine-style exterior remains the same, but the interior was gutted to make way for a new floor plan centered around an atrium.	(8) Duffield Hall Location: Engineering Quad Type: Construction Start date: June 2001 Completion date: October 2004 Total cost: $58.5 million Architects: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership; Hallam ICS Engineering A state-of-the-art facility for nanotechnology research, housing laboratories, offices, and meeting rooms. Includes a 16,000-square-foot clean room and labs that dampen vibration and electromagnetic fields; connected to Phillips and Upson halls by a large atrium.
(9) Beck Center/Statler Hall Location: Corner of Statler Drive and Campus Road Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: January 2003 Completion date: October 2004 Total cost: $16 million Architect: KSS Architects Attached to the eastern end of Statler Hall, the 35,000-squarefoot Beck Center features a three-story glass-walled atrium with interior balconies. Amenities include high-tech classrooms, interview rooms, a computer lab, and a hospitality suite.	(10) Cook House and Becker House Location: West Campus Type: Construction Start date: March 2003 Completion date: August 2005 Total cost: $75.5 million Architect: Kieran Timberlake Associates LLP The Class of '22 and Class of '28 U-Halls were demolished to make space for the first two “living and learning” residence halls built for the West Campus Residential Initiative: Alice Cook House, which opened last August, and Carl Becker House, which will open this fall. Each building includes its own dining hall, common room, library, and faculty apartments.
(11) Riley-Robb Hall Location: Campus Road Type: Renovation Start date: April 2004 Completion date: March 2005 Total cost: $5.5 million Architect: HOLT Architects Renovation of 18,000 square feet in the north wing, including construction of new wet labs and supporting infrastructure.	(12) Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, West Wing Location: Forest Home Drive Type: Renovation Start date: March 2005 Completion date: September 2005 Total cost: $3 million Architect: John Snyder Architects Improvements to 12,000 square feet in MVR's west wing will create offices, meeting rooms, and dry labs for the Department of Human Development. Landscaping will enhance the path between the west face of MVR and Garden Avenue.
(13) Schoellkopf Memorial Hall Location: Campus Road Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: May 2004 Completion date: October 2005 Total cost: $8 million Architect: Sasaki Associates To provide the football program with improved locker rooms, offices, and meeting space, Schoellkopf is being renovated and an addition is being constructed on the eastern end.	(14) Ives Hall Location: Tower Road Type: Renovation Start date: May 2005 Total cost: $1.5 million Architect: Beckhard Richland Szerbaty + Associates Renovation of 6,000 square feet in the Ives west wing, including improvements to the forty-year-old HVAC system.

Projects to be Completed 2006-2010
(15) Bailey Hall Location: Garden Avenue Extension Type: Renovation Start date: April 2004 Completion date: August 2006 Total cost: $17 million Architect: Mitchell/Giurgola Architects Extensive improvements to one of Cornell's most historic--and most used--buildings, which opened in 1912. Seating will be reduced from 2,000 to 1,350, but the new seats will be roomier and more comfortable. There will also be improved sound and lighting--and air-conditioning.	(16) Lynah Rink enhancements Location: Campus Road Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: Spring 2006 Completion date: Winter 2006 Total cost: $6.5 million Architect: Rossetti Architects A “modest freshening” of the famous rink, which will include improvements to the locker rooms, offices, and press box--and 450 additional seats. Most of the expansion will be on the concourse (upper) level of the building's south side.
(17) Waste Management Facility Location: Schurman Hall, Tower Road Type: Demolition and construction Start date: August 2005 Completion date: January 2007 Total cost: $6 million Architect: Malcolm Pirnie Improvements to the facility will enable it to use not only heat but pressure and chemicals to make medical and animal wastes safe for landfill disposal.	(18) Uris Animal Facility Location: Basement of Uris Hall, at Tower Road and East Avenue Type: Renovation Start date: January 2006 Completion date: March 2007 Total cost: $9 million Architect: Ballinger Researchers in the Department of Psychology will be getting 18,000 square feet of new and refurbished animal holding rooms, procedure rooms, and wet laboratories for the study of birds and mammals.
(19) Mann Library Location: Ag Quad Type: Renovation Start date: November 2003 Completion date: June 2007 Total cost: $30 million Architect: Beyhan Karahan & Associates Much of the building is being gutted to make space for the research and teaching labs of the Bailey Hortorium and for the Herbarium's 845,000 specimens of algae, bryophytes, and vascular plants. Other renovations include restoration of the lobby and the reading room.	(20) Life Sciences Technology Building Location: Central campus, western end of Alumni Fields Type: Construction Start date: September 2002 Completion date: August 2007 Total cost: $146 million Architect: Richard Meier & Partners The centerpiece of Cornell's New Life Sciences Initiative, the LSTB will house the Cornell Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. This 250,000-squarefoot, four-story structure will be the largest life sciences research facility in the state; tunnels will connect it to nearby buildings.
(21) East Campus Research Facility Location: Northeast corner of Tower and Campus roads, connected to the Veterinary Research Tower Type: Construction Start date: June 2005 Completion date: October 2007 Total cost: $55 million Architect: Ballinger A four-story vivarium that will boost Cornell's “mouse house” capacity to more than 80,000 transgenic mice. It will also consolidate existing animal facilities on the campus.	(22) Johnson Museum Location: University and Central avenues Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: Late 2006 Completion date: Late 2007 Total cost: $9 million Architect: Pei Cobb Freed LLC An addition to I.M. Pei's distinctive structure, largely sited underground, that will provide an additional 12,000 square feet of gallery, storage, and classroom space. It will extend northward, toward the gorge.
(23) Three Residence Halls; Noyes Community and Recreation Center Location: West Campus Type: Construction Start date: June 2005 Total cost: $132.5 million Architect: Kieran Timberlake Associates LLP The next phase of the West Campus Residential Initiative, which involves demolition of the remaining U-Halls and the existing Noyes Community Center to make way for three new residence halls and a new community center. The new Noyes Center will include a gymnasium, multipurpose room, fitness center, and convenience store.	(24) Physical Sciences Building Location: Clark Plaza, between Baker Lab and Rockefeller Hall Type: Construction Start date: July 2006 Completion date: July 2010 Total cost: $125 million Architect: Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann and Associates; design consultant: Koetter Kim Associates A new facility of approximately 185,000 square feet, intended to facilitate interdisciplinary research among the physical science departments.

Completion Date to be Determined
(25) Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, North Wing Location: Forest Home Drive Type: Demolition and new construction Start date: Design June 2005; construction TBD Completion date: Design January 2007; construction TBD Total cost: $36.5 million Architect: TBD Because of structural defects found in 2001, the existing MVR North will be razed and replaced by a new building.	(26) Stocking Hall Location: Tower Road Type: Renovation and possible addition Start date: Design September 2005; construction TBD Completion date: Design September 2007; construction TBD Total cost: $25 million Architect: TBD Renovations for the Department of Food Science will provide for current and projected teaching, research, and extension programs.
(27) Milstein Hall Location: Corner of East Avenue and University Avenue Type: Construction Start date: TBD; currently on hold Completion date: TBD Total cost: $24 million Architect: TBD Future home of the architecture department. Steven Holl's 2001 design--an aluminum-skinned cube--was greeted with a chorus of criticism; after a second selection process, Barkow Leibinger Architects produced a very different design that met much the same fate. In summer 2004, the University placed the project on hold pending further study.	(28) Helen Newman Hall Location: North Campus Type: Renovation and expansion Start date: TBD; currently on hold Completion date: TBD Total cost: $15 million (in 2001 dollars) Architect: Dagit Saylor Architects This project, which is on hold pending funding, will include new gym, fitness, and swimming space, improvements to locker rooms, and replacement of obsolete mechanical and HVAC equipment.
(29) Uris Library and Olin Library Location: Arts Quad Type: Renovation Start date: TBD Completion date: TBD Total cost: TBD Architect: TBD Improvements to both of the main libraries, including refurbishment of public spaces and improvements to HVAC and sprinkler systems.	(30) Visitor Center Location: Western end of Beebe Lake Type: Demolition and construction Start date: TBD; currently on hold Completion date: TBD Total cost: $8 million Architect: Smith-Miller + Hawkinson As planned, a contemporary glass structure that would replace Alumni House and Noyes Lodge, retaining their park-like setting and serving as a gateway to central campus. On hold pending funding.

Beauty and the Beast

What’s the most beautiful building on the Cornell campus?
What’s the ugliest? Let us know what you think--and why. We will publish the results and selected comments in a future issue.

E-mail: jhr22@cornell.edu; "Beauty and the Beast" in the subject line
Mail: Beauty and the Beast, Cornell Alumni Magazine, 401 E. State St.,
Suite 301, Ithaca, NY 14850
Fax: (607) 272-8532; "Beauty and the Beast" at top or on cover sheet Please respond by June 30.

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