Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Another makeover is planned for a section of the Statler, this time the circa 1987 PoMo front entrance space. As noted by Ithaca Builds, the addition, at a cost of $2.4 million, calls for a modernized pop-out addition and entrance on the west face of Statler Hall (the side facing East Avenue) with new landscaping and pedestrian features. The project adds a relatively modest 1,619 sq ft to the Statler, with 319 sq ft on the first floor, and 1,300 sq ft on the second floor. The exhaustive summary of the project is included on their website here, with more renderings here. The timeline for construction is a short three months, May to August 2014.

This is the third renovation in the series, all by Philly-based KSS Architects. The first phase involved the construction of the Beck Center in 2004, which added 36,000 sq ft and renovated 16,000 sq ft on the east wing of Statler Hall. The second phase added 14,000 sq ft on the south face of the Statler, and was completed in 2010. Since the Hotel School is landlocked with little hope of re-purposing nearby property, the procedure with new structures always involves additions and renovations, rather than totally new buildings as we would see in other schools. The Statler was first built in 1949 on what was previously four homes of faculty row (at one point, a few dozen faculty had homes on Cornell campus, other examples include what was once Grove Place on what is now the Engineering Quad, and another cluster of homes where Savage-Kinzelberg Hall stands today). The auditorium was added to the south end in 1956, and further renovations were undertaken in 1959 and 1968. The hotel tower was added along with this front entrance in 1986/87. If history is any indicator, his will not be the last addition or renovation.