After being destroyed by a fire last March, reconstruction is underway at the site of 202 Eddy Street in Collegetown. Following the disaster, developer Nick Lambrou vowed to rebuild on the site. Being a part of the East Hill Historic District, any new structure needed to be approved by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Council. After thorough review, the ILPC approved plans for a new 12-bedroom apartment building that completely replaces the fire-damaged building.
The new structure is a faithful interpretation of the original building, though it’s not an exact copy. An entrance door was repositioned, exterior emergency stairs will be internalized, and a chimney will not be rebuilt, but otherwise, its a close approximation of the original 19th century home. The architect is Ithaca-based Jagat Sharma, who has previous experience from the reconstruction of Sigma Pi’s house when it burnt down in 1995.
In these photos from last Sunday, the concrete foundation has been poured, and the first two floors are framed with plywood and covered in Tyvek house wrap to keep out moisture. Rough framing is underway on the top floor and cupola, and the mansard roof trusses are complete but the roof itself is still in progress. Rough openings in the walls indicate future window locations, although some spots are not as obvious since they’re covered by the house wrap.
Plans call for the new building to be completed and ready for occupancy by August, in time for the fall 2015 semester.
Ithacating in Cornell Heights 
Sometimes I wish Ithaca had a plan to replace all its collapsing, fire escape-laden, vinyl-sided old houses with updated versions like this. Clearly iterations like this do a better job of representing and respecting historic architecture than the mutilated properties that have been modified for student rentals around it do.
[…] District. Probably the best solution at this point would be a sympathetic new build, like the one happening with 202 Eddy Street a few blocks away. But there’s no guarantee that will […]