Michael Patterson, director of Student Activities and Union Services (left), and Naomi Voight, keyboard specialist, in the department's new offices in the Student Union.

The Student Union’s Purple Lounge is no more.

In mid-June, the offices of Student Activities and Union Services and the Disability Resource Center relocated to newly renovated spaces. The offices were permanently moved to make way for the building’s 11,000-square-foot addition. The first, second and third floors on the north side of the building are currently undergoing demolition in anticipation of the erection of the new Student Union addition.

The Office of Student Activities and Union Services is now in room 211. All telephone extensions remain the same.

“We’re the same friendly folks,” said Michael Patterson, director of Student Activities and Union Services. “We’re just on the opposite side of the building now.”

The Student Activities and Union Services suite has an open reception area where Naomi Voight and student employees work, as well as four private offices and a storage room.

“Our new reception area is definitely more conducive to students,” said Patterson. “It is much more accommodating for student traffic.”

The Multi-Purpose Room in the Student Union was closed down at the end of the spring semester and into the summer. Patterson said the space will be fully functional by the fall. He advised those thinking of planning an event there to keep in mind the construction noise.

The space once known as the Purple Lounge in January 2009.

The new Disability Resource Center is adjacent to the Student Activities offices. The center has a reception area and three new offices. All telephone extensions for the center and its staff will remain the same.

Meanwhile, a temporary information desk has been set up in the second floor hallway outside of the new offices. The desk will be staffed, but some services – such as Trailways bus tickets – are being offered in the Student Activities office.

Both offices will be hosting open houses in the fall.

Asbestos abatement and demolition has been completed in the Purple Lounge on the second floor of the Student Union Building. The space is being transformed into permanent offices for the Disability Resource Center and Student Activities and Union Services.

Behind the blue construction fence in the Haggerty Circle, the Student Union Building’s addition project is gaining momentum.

The work, which is funded by grants from the Assemblymember Kevin Cahill ‘77 and Senator John Bonacic and Campus Auxiliary Services – with the balance coming from the campus’s capital account, is on schedule, according the John Shupe, assistant vice president for facilities management.

Asbestos abatement and demolition in the hallway that connects the Student Union Building and the Haggerty Administration Building was completed during the first half of January.

A temporary wall has been constructed where the windows had existed in the corridor. The current courtyard will become a new common area in the addition and will serve as a game room, presentation space and informal gathering space.

John McEnrue, director of Facilities Design and Construction, said the corridor’s ceiling, walls and floors will be renovated, in a style similar to the Haggerty Administration Building basement, next winter.

Abatement and demolition in the Purple Lounge on the second floor has been completed. Preparation and construction on new offices for Student Activities and Union Services and the Disability Resource Center are underway. Staff from both departments should begin moving to the south side of the building in mid-April, said McEnrue.

When the staff has relocated, demolition on the north side of the Student Union Building will begin to make way for construction on the addition’s steel frame, which is scheduled to begin this summer.

McEnrue said the construction fence has been extended to include a portion of the concourse between the Student Union and Haggerty in preparation for the demolition of the courtyard between the two buildings in late February.

Across campus, the Old Main Building is bustling with work and is also on schedule.

David Smith (Facilities Design and Construction) in a classroom on the first floor where asbestos abatement has been completed and demolition will follow in the coming weeks.

McEnrue said that the abatement and demolition teams have been working in the building from the top down, in stages starting with the third floor where asbestos abatement and demolition have been completed. Walls and flooring on the third floor rooms have been removed. One floor down, on the second floor, abatement has been completed and demolition has begun. The first floor abatement has begun and demolition will follow.

All three phases of the beginning work are represented on the all the floors. “If you travel from the first to the third floor, you really get a feel of how the demolition process evolves,” Shupe said.

In the Julien J. Studley Theatre, all of the seating has been removed in preparation for asbestos abatement. The space will receive new electrical support and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Meanwhile, the building’s exterior is undergoing masonry work and McEnrue said work on the building’s roof is set for this summer.

A classroom on the third floor of the Old Main Building that has undergone asbestos abatement and demolition in preparation for renovation.

Simultaneously, the Facilities Design and Construction staff is planning for the summer. On the docket are replacing the windows in Gage Hall. This is the last residence hall to have its windows replaced. Renovations to the interiors of College and Shango halls will also take place. And, the roofs on the Hasbrouck Dining Hall, Humanities Building, Service Building, College and Shango halls will all be replaced this summer.

For information on all of the campus’s construction projects, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction.

The stained glass window in the Old Main Building is protected from the construction taking place inside and outside the building. The window will be restored later on during the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

An aerial photo of the Student Union Building shows the staging area set up in the Crispell Parking lot (top, left) and the concourse area between the building and the Haggerty Administration Building (not pictured) where the addition will be constructed.

With work on the Student Union Building’s addition scheduled to begin in the spring, a lot of preparation is taking place on the building’s interior over the winter break.

Project Manager Garry Nack (Facilities Design and Construction) said abatement and demolition of the Purple Lounge of the Student Union Building’s second floor began the week of Dec. 8. Once that work is complete, the space is being converted into offices for Student Activities and Union Services and the Disability Resource Center.

Nack said the main focus over the break will be on the basement hallway connecting Haggerty Administration Building and the Student Union Building. Abatement on the lower level of the Student Union Building began the week of Dec. 22. As a result, he said, the connection between the two buildings will be closed for about three weeks. Access to Records and Registration, Telecommunications, Administrative Services and Parking offices will be through Haggerty. In addition to abatement work, the glass wall on the basement floor will be replaced with a partition wall.

The $13.4 million project receives funding from the college’s capital budget, which is separate from the college operating budget. While state operating funds are facing cuts, funding for capital projects is still in place, allowing the campus to move forward with projects such as the Old Main renovation and the Student Union Building addition.

For more information on this and other construction projects on campus, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction.

Contract approved; construction phase draws near

An artist’s rendering of the Student Union Pavilion’s interior, which will be constructed between the Student Union Building and the Haggerty Administration Building. Work on the project is scheduled to begin later this month. Image submitted

The New York State Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the State Comptroller have blessed the Student Union Building expansion contract and work on the project is expected to begin at the end of the month.

“The hard work of students, faculty and staff who were all part of the planning and contracting has paid off,” said L. David Rooney, vice pre

sident for student affairs and chair of the Student Union Building Advisory Committee. “We are about to enter the construction phase that we have all been anxiously waiting for. Once completed, the new space will add so much to the functionality of a vital campus hub.”

Representatives from Niram Inc. of Boonton, N.J., the general contractor, visited the campus on Nov. 11 to walk through the building with members of Facilities Design and Construction to determine where and when they can start work. Niram will return the week of Nov. 17 to discuss a schedule.

Garry Nack, project manager for Facilities Design and Construction, said work on the project will begin in the Purple Lounge on the building’s second floor. The space will be renovated into office space for Student Activities and Union Services and the Disability Resource Center. Once the staff has been relocated, work will begin on the north side of the building, nearest the Haggerty Administration Building.

John McEnrue, director of Facilities Design and Construction, said the project should take 16 months to complete.

Meanwhile, changes made in preparation for the project can be seen on campus. The most visible is the Backstage Café in Parker Theatre, which is scheduled to open on Nov. 20, providing the campus community with another dining option when Jazzman’s in the Student Union Building closes. In September, the ID/Meal Plan office was relocated from the Haggerty Administration Building’s basement to Student Union Building room 100.

A ground breaking ceremony and construction schedule will be announced soon.

For more information about the project, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction.