Ithacating in Cornell Heights

With tax abatement approvals in hand, construction on the 67-unit Library Place project is set to move forward. According to the project website, at the moment 20 steel test piles are being driven into the ground to verify the correct depth to the subsurface layer that will support the weight of the structure (the library’s foundation is being reused, but the new 4-story building is heavier and has additional load bearing needs). If all goes well, the remaining 60 piles will be delivered and driven into the ground, with pile driving work to wrap up around Labor Day. This is somewhat later in the year than first anticipated.

It looks like the pile driver in the photos below came from Ferraro Pile and Shoring Inc. of Buffalo. Some grading and surveying equipment is also scattered about the site. LeChase Construction is the general contractor for the project, and Travis Hyde Properties is the developer for the senior housing project.

Quick aside – I can generally tell how familiar readers are with Ithaca when they email asking questions about “Mr. Travis Hyde”. Quick refresher, Travis Hyde is led by company president Frost Travis of the locally prominent Travis family of developers, and his brother-in-law, company vice-president Chris Hyde.

The 50 year-old time capsule from the Old Library was recovered and opened in a public ceremony; coverage of that and the contents can be found courtesy of my Voice colleagues here. The full history of the project and a description of the plans can be found here.