Ithacating in Cornell Heights

Because of the multi-phased, tiered buildout of Upson Hall’s renovation, it’s easy to miss the changes. For example, in the first photo, there really haven’t been any exterior changes to the fourth or fifth floor, but on the third floor, there’s been significant progress – the old stone has been removed, the new stud walls have been erected, gypsum-based glass mat sheathing has been laid and waterproofed, and new windows have been fitted. You can see the latest batch of exterior wall progress on the third floor of the west face, third photo below. The first and second floors have had their old exteriors stripped as well, but at the moment the frame is exposed. The interior has been gutted and new utilities rough-ins are being routed.

On the side facing the Engineering Quad, the progress has been similar – the third floor has seen the most work recently as the renovations work their way from top to bottom. Turning to the east face, sheathing extends to the bottom floor, and it looks like an aluminum roof cap has been installed on the new bump-out. The general contractor for Upson is The Pike Company, which is touting the project with computer-generated images of construction staging on its front webpage.