Ithacating in Cornell Heights

It has occurred to me that when I hop between construction sites, I could possibly be construed as the worst driver on the planet, because I look to get as close as possible, parking or drive-by, without a whole lot of attention to anything around me. So it hardly seems appropriate that my first police ticket ever was last night, driving home through a town I’ve never been in before in my life, where the detour sign for the bridge I needed to cross was knocked askew, and I tried to make my way back to the state highway. According to the police officer, I went through a stop sign, and upon driving back to take photos this morning, I still have no idea which intersection he’s referring to on the ticket (it only gives one street). This will be a weird day in traffic court.

Bad luck, or karma. I suppose it’s one of the two.

Anyway, the below photos were taken the day after Thanksgiving, driving back down 81 heading downstate. Since Ithaca’s only a 25 mile detour each way, carpe diem.

Checking out Lansing first (as it’s closest to where I get off from 81 southbound), I didn’t notice much in the way of large-scale construction as expected for the new senior homes next to the BJ’s. Although, a utility building did appear to be under construction, seen here on the left side of the image. Update 1/10/13: Only now do I find out this is a new fire station under construction.

Not too far away, the woody lot behind the Triphammer Mall is slated to be home to a 3/4 story apartment building.

Over at Cornell, the mostly-subterranean addition to the Law School is well underway. This is but the first phase, with a completion likely in late 2013/early 2014.

The steel frame of Gates Hall is mostly complete, wish some interior framing underway. The new computer science building, with 101,000 sq ft, will be completed late next year.

The green roof is being laid for the new classroom attached to Fernow Hall. Renovations on Fernow and Rice continue through 2015.

The new Stocking Hall/food science addition once again wins the award for “hardest tarp to see through”, a thick black burlap secured fastened to the construction fence. This is why photo number two had to be taken by sliding the camera lens underneath the metal mesh. The new building will be completed roughly next summer, with renovations of the older parts of the Stocking Hall complex to continue into 2014.

The new building for the Big Red Band appears to be undergoing foundation work, and working were on site when I visited. Being a small, 4,700 sq ft structure, the completion date just a few months away seems fairly appropriate.

Heading into Collegetown, the Belle Sherman Cottages project has advanced a little further, with a second home complete and a third well under construction (workers were pouring the base for the garage as I walked by). I checked the other lots for “sold” signs, and although some of the land appeared to be disturbed enough for additional foundation work, I did not notice any more sold lots, so this home may be the last built in the near-term.

The new townhomes at 107 Cook Street are undergoing the last of their exterior work, and will probably be complete by the end of the winter. The two townhomes offer 12 bedrooms total, one less than the destroyed apartment home they replaced.

This seems like bad planning.

The concrete bunker of a building still stands solemnly, awaiting news on whether the new Collegetown Crossing building will be on site.

Ithaca Gun. Still empty since construction/remediation stopped in August due to cost overruns, and seemingly as polluted as ever. At this point, you’ll have to tear out a section of the Earth’s crust to get rid of all the pollution.