News Tidbits 1/8/09: Miracles Do Happen

8 01 2009

All I can say is, it’s about time.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090108/NEWS01/901080319/0/NEWSFRONT2

ITHACA – Cornell’s Milstein Hall project will benefit Cornell and the public while minimizing negative impacts, Ithaca’s Planning Board decided.

The Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to grant preliminary site plan approval to the $54 million project that includes a new, 59,000-square-foot building that will connect Rand and Sibley halls and stretch over University Avenue toward the Foundry.

A new Central Avenue Parking Garage will also provide 199 parking spaces on three levels, two of them underground.

The project has been delayed for at least five years with various designs and, most recently, a dispute between the university and the city’s Board of Public Works over the proposal to place part of the building over University Avenue.

After months of disagreement, the university decided to use a cantilever design rather than columns, which would have required an easement from the city. Separately, Cornell and the city later agreed that Cornell would pay to rebuild and maintain the badly deteriorated University Avenue in exchange for the city’s decision to give up its public right of way on the road.

The planning board has been reviewing an environmental impact statement on Milstein for the past two months and has heard comments from Ithacans and Art, Architecture and Planning faculty and students for and against the project.

Cornell and those in favor of the project have argued that the additional space is needed to maintain the Art, Architecture and Planning College’s accreditation and to programmatically connect the three buildings.

Planning Board Chairman John Schroeder said the existing conditions leave the Foundry disconnected and looking “like a maintenance building.” Milstein Hall would move the center of activity more toward the middle, better linking the buildings, he said.

Those against the project have argued that the very modern design of Milstein Hall will be jarring next to the historic Rand and Sibley halls.

Ithaca’s Landmarks Preservation Commission will review historic preservation concerns related to the project at their meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14 in City Hall, 108 E. Green St. The commission would have to grant a Certificate of Appropriateness for Milstein Hall to be built, Acting Planning Director JoAnn Cornish said by e-mail.

Cornell also needs final site plan approval from the Planning Board, which could come at its Jan. 27 meeting, Cornish said.

John Gutenberger, director of community relations at Cornell, said if the final approvals are granted, construction could start by early spring. Milstein Hall is not subject to the university’s construction pause, he said.

The project would be complete by December 2010, project manager Andrew Magre said.

***

In other news, the massive (by Ithaca standards) development called “Carrowmoor” continues to clear the political hurdles. From the town of Ithaca’s 1/6/09 minutes:

“Consideration of designation of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board to act as Lead Agency, and the determination of a Positive Declaration of Environmental Significance for the proposed Carrowmoor development project located off Mecklenburg Road (NYS Route 79), north of Rachel Carson Way, Town of Ithaca Tax Parcel No. 27-1-14.2, Agricultural and Medium Density Residential Zones.  The proposal includes the development of 400 +/- residential condominium units, a community center complex, up to 36,000 square feet of neighborhood oriented commercial uses, up to 32 living units in an elderly residential building, a child care center, and other mixed-use development on 158 +/- acres.  The project will also include multiple new roads and walkways, open recreation areas, stormwater facilities, and community gardens.  Town of Ithaca actions also include consideration of adoption of a proposed local law to enact a Planned Development Zone in conjunction with the Carrowmoor proposal.  The Planning Board may also begin discussions of the draft scoping document for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  John Rancich, Owner/ Applicant; Steven Bauman, Agent; Mary Russell, Attorney.”

Still some hurdles left though. The Planning Board must approve both the environmental review and site plan review before Carrowmoor could be built. The Town Board also has to pass a local law changing the zoning to allow for the project’s development.

***

No entries for the next week, as I’ll be mostly internet-less at a conference. For those of you planning to attend Rush Week, good luck and have fun.


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News Tidbits 12/10/08: Ithaca’s “Fancy New” Wal-Mart

10 12 2008

So, recently, although the national and state economies are sinking like a stone in a lake, there has been one slight bright spot here in little Ithaca. The local Wal-Mart is continuing its expansion plans, and apparently the giant retailer plans to use Ithaca as its first test market for a more socially conscious image for the retailer. To quote the Ithaca Journal article:

“Wal-Mart is trying out a new branding campaign characterized by smaller signs, earth tones, and more pedestrian-friendly amenities like awnings outside the store, said Jim Gallagher, an architect with PB2 Architecture and Engineering and a Wal-Mart consultant.”

I’d post the Daily Sun photo if I could find it, but locating any image of the redesign has been a royal pain in the ass, so we’ll go without it for now.

A facadectomy isn’t going to change the image of a store so despised by fringe locals that they planted a bomb (yes, it was an actual improvised explosive device [3]). But, hey, if that’s how they want to spend their money, then let them do stonework and vestibules in the hope that people stop associating them with corporate greed.

A Wal-Mart was first proposed in Ithaca for the property in the early 1990s where the Home Depot sits today, but it was shot down by community opposition (the site was planned by Widewaters Development Group out of the Syracuse area). The current store wen through an untold number of hoops while trying to avoid the barbs of angry locals who did not want a Wal-Mart in the area, The current Wal-Mart, approved in 2002, opened in early spring of 2005 [6].

Meanwhile, Cornell is still planning the 6,000 sq. ft. Plantations Welcome Center [4] , and a new water tank off of Hungerford Hill Road. Student Agencies is seeking approval for the construction of a 10,000 sq. ft warehouse off of Sheffield Road to expand their capacity for the storage of student items during the summer months.

Apart from that, nothing really new from the planning board agendas of the town or the city. Some cosmetic work and a few more large parcels of land being subdivided for future house development.

 

[1]http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081029/NEWS01/810290317

[2] http://cornellsun.com/node/33711

[3]http://walmartwatch.com/battlemart/go/cat/crime_safety

[4]http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/projects/fs_project_overview.cfm?project_id=125

[5]http://www.ithacahours.com/archive/9406.html -Wal-Mart Attack

[6]https://cornellsun.com/node/12711


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A few weather stats

29 10 2008

Courtesy of the Northeast Regional Climate Center [1]. Because the weather on Tuesday was just THAT sh*tty.

Highest recorded wind speed in Ithaca proper today: 36.2 MPH, around 4 PM. [2]

Highest wind gust, annually: about 60 MPH.

Highest recorded in area, ever: 84 MPH, from 1972.

Last time measurable snow occured in October: October 31, 1993. 3.7 inches. Prior to that, there were measurable snows in October 1988 (which had the most October snow recorded, at 6.5 inches) and October 1982; it was more common back in the day.

Most snow ever recorded from a single storm: 21 inches, in 1961. An unofficial record of 25.5 inches is claimed for January 1925 [3]. (for the record, most snow ever recorded in my hometown: 43.1 inches, in 1966).

Average amount of snow in a year: 67 inches.

Most snow ever recorded in Ithaca in a single season: 122.2, in the winter of 1977-78.

High on this day last year (2007): 63. Low was 40. Sunny.

Tuesday’s high: 38. Low 32. Not sunny.

Warmest October on record: October 2007: 7.8 degrees above normal.

Average temperature on a given October day in Ithaca: About 48 degrees (high 59, low 37).

Warmest October day ever recorded in Ithaca: 91, in 1953.

Coldest October day ever recorded in Ithaca: 15, in 1928.

Highest high ever recorded: 103, in July 1936.

Lowest low: -35, in February 1961.

 

 

 

 

[1]http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/

[2]http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/climate/ithaca/gfr_logger.html

[3]http://books.google.com/books?id=jUu9pDRhWjkC&pg=PA452&lpg=PA452&dq=lowest+snowfall+ever+ithaca+winter&source=web&ots=Mp__5eVss3&sig=j8j3mD5FbCx1OR2ussPMRm_zAyY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result


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Greeks Freak…and it’s not the MGLC’s step show.

13 10 2008

So, I’m churning out two updates in one day. Yay.

For those who follow the trials and issues of the Greek system (which are probably very few in number, but nonetheless fascinating in its own twisted way), the big news in the system has been related to the Greek conference (Call To Action Summit) held in Appel last month. Quite simply put, Cornell and a coalition of alumni are threatening to remove Greek self-governance unless some changes are made. Now.

The first concern are academics. The fraternity system as a whole stands at 3.26. In the fall of 2007, it stood at 3.246 (sororities are at about 3.4, and higher than their non-Greek counterparts, so they don’t have the same issue).

I only have a paper copy of this past semester’s average, which is why the elctronic one is only the prior two semesters. Anyways, that upsets the alumni. The campus average is somewhere around 3.4. That is very upsetting. As one fraternity alum exclaimed, “Cornell Greeks could and should be smarter than non-Greeks”.

So, obviously, they launch into this whole sphiel about promoting academics and all that goes with it. Here’s my concern, as an attendee; we all know that certain schools are more rigorous grade-wise than others. ILR averages about a 3.8, while engineering is nearly a full point lower. For a generic house, where the have two rushees who are relatively the same in every characteristic except that one’s an ILRie and the other is an engineer, which one are they going to choose, as their independence in the system is under threat?

That’s my issue. The intended goal is smarter Greeks. GPAs don’t necessarily mean someone is smarter, but based off of statistics, one might think it is. I’m concerned those from more rigorous majors (my dept. averages a 3.2, which is why I feel every right to be concerned) are going to have a slimmer chance of getting into a house because the house will focus more on their course of study, thinking it more potentially attractive to give bids to those in majors with generally high GPAs (and I’ll be damned if someone steps up to say that would never happen, and can prove it).

The second topic was getting rid of the Greeks “party-and-kegger” image. This I can agree with more. I feel embarrassed if I wear my letters around campus because I get this awkward feeling that unfamiliar faculty and staff are looking down on me, as if they heard I’m drunk four nights a week. I think I’ve drank maybe four times this semester, and only one of those times was it even with anyone from my fraternity. So, I personally would love to do away with the party image.

Unfortunately, I’m also aware that parties are a primary source of “fresh blood”. The general view is that people aren’t as interested in a sense of camraderie and connections and cheaper housing; they’re visiting in the fall for the free booze. Fraternities who have used alternative method are generally looked down upon. To that extent, I’m aware of the two ag frats [AZ and AGR] doing events on the Ag Quad to attract attention to themselves and to get people interested, and Seal and Serpent posting flyers in high-traffic areas, but the aggies are considered off the wall anyway and Seal’s desperate for members.

So, the system is attempting an “informational” on the 26th. It seems like it will be a guided tour of the houses and a career fair style setup in the multipurpose room of RPU. I’ll be downright shocked if they have a significant turnout.

The third is the spectre of hazing. As someone who has been directly involved in overhauling parts of their own fraternity’s pledging to address the concerns, I can say that most of the ideas they were proposing were one’s we put into effect after hazing allegation went public in almost ten years ago. It took five years to put into place though, because some alumni vehemently opposed what they referred to as “taking the fun and character out of the pledge process”. They disaffiliated with us over the restructuring, but we did what we had to, and we’ve been the better for doing it (I won’t give exact numbers and details because I’m concerned they would give some others the information necessary to determine my afiiliation).

Meanwhile, Greek and non-Greeks alike are flipping out over the police distrubing dozens of $500 fines in a given weekend. Here’s the bad news folks—the locals are strongly supportive of the measures. And unless you plan on commuting from Lansing or Dryden, you’d better learn to deal with it, because as much as we’re upset, the support from the rest of Ithaca (excluding South Hill and IC) is staggering. Students are a captive market, and unless it can be proven otherwise, expect things to only get more stringent in the future.

EDIT: Speaking of MGLC, I take it this [1B] means Alpha Phi Alpha is active at Cornell once again? Congratulations gentlemen. Best of luck to you.

[1B]http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29891094604&ref=nf


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Everyone Loves Historical Throwbacks

2 10 2008

So, if you haven’t been living under a rock in the past year, there are plans for a 9-story, 102-room hotel just off the commons, to be designed by Scott Whitham of Thomas Group Architects in conjunction with Ithaca Properties LLC / Rimland Associates. Well, it looks like they have a hotel operator in Gemstone Hotels & Resorts, a boutique hotel operator based out of Utah [1]:

Hotel Ithaca

Hotel Ithaca, currently in final planning and approval, is expected to open in 2011. The property will be a nine-story, full-service boutique hotel at the intersection of State and Aurora Streets. The hotel will feature 125 luxury rooms and suites and 2,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. The hotel will be built on the same site as the original Hotel Ithaca. In addition, the hotel will be the home of the original Zinck’s Bar, a cherished icon of the city’s past.

“We welcome the opportunity to be involved with the first luxury boutique hotel in the Ithaca area,” said Thomas Prins. “Because the city is also home to the world renowned Cornell Hotel School, we are very excited to set a new standard in concept and operations and set an example for students and the many hotelier alumni who visit the school.”

I have no clue where they had the idea it was a 125-room hotel. Everything I’ve read has stated 102 rooms.

That being said, since the last Zinck’s closed over forty years ago, the only things most of us modern Cornellians know about it is from “Give My Regards to Davy” [/We’ll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck’s/]. Cornell’s alumni associations make use of the Zinck’s nostalgia in its alumni events:

“Theodore Zinck was a saloonkeeper in Ithaca, and his pub, the Hotel Brunswick, was a popular gathering place for Cornellians in the 1890s. After his death in 1903, several bars using his name continued to provide a haven for students. When the last Zinck’s closed in the mid-1960s, celebrating the spirit of Zinck’s became a favorite Thursday night Collegetown tradition for undergraduates. It wasn’t long afterward that Cornellians began to continue the tradition in their hometowns. This year, alumni will celebrate this uniquely Cornell event in more than 90 cities around the world. So wherever you are, remember your days at Cornell on October 16. [2]”

Currently, the University uses “the Spirit of Zinck’s night” as a way to promote alumni involvement (e.g. solicit donations). With the historical name being reused at a drinking establishment once again, it looks like they might be able to celebrate at Zinck’s a couple of years from now.

[1]http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9097563&nav=menu35_8

[2] http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/zincks/index.cfm


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The Story of the Vet School Incinerator

18 09 2008

So, I enjoy telling a good story as much as the next guy, and this one was actually the subject presented by my professor in an air pollution course I’m enrolled in. I might have been the only one taking notes on this, because it was meant to merely illustrate an argument, it’s historical, and an interesting piece of history worth sharing.

So, in the early 1990s, The Vet School over on the East Campus had a problem. A large number of carcasses were being generated daily. Dissections, disease studies, putting some of the farm animals to sleep, etc. So on any given day, thousands of pounds of carcasses were being produced, and they had to be disposed of.

Well, Cornell, for all the things it does have, does not have an incinerator for cremation on any of its properties. So they would have to ship the carcasses out in container trucks with hazard labels and send them to an incinerator elsewhere in the county, where they could be properly disposed. As you might imagine, this built up quite a hefty amount of fees over time. So Cornell began to explore their options to alleviate the problem.

Well, the proposal that seems to work best was to build a waste disposal facility for the animal carcasses directly on the property. The site that was determined to be the best fit was just to the east of the Vet Research Tower. At this time, the Vet Hospital’s main building and the East Addition didn’t exist, so the complex was mostly barns, the tower, Schurman Hall and the scattered add-ons that comprised the property. The red square below was the approximate location for the project.

 The Vet Tower is a fairly large building, as it stands about 140 feet tall. So, in order to build the smokestack, the design had the smokestack stand about 180 feet tall, more than enough to clear the building.

Well, it went ahead in front of the town of Ithaca, and the residents of the neighboring hamlet of Forest Home had a fit. They’d be damned if they had to look at a giant smokestack from Cornell. So Cornell paid an engineering firm to survey the land from notable viewing radii to see if the structure would impose on the residents of Forest Home. Sure enough, if did, but only just barely. It was determined that if the design was shorter, it’d be okay.

So, Cornell proposed changing it to 160 feet. But, there was another issue with that. Bradfield Hall, just up the road, stands 167 feet tall. And the top floor has windows (ironically enough, the atmospheric science department is housed at the top).  So, that wasn’t going to fly unless Cornell did an air pollution study to prove it wouldn’t affect the occupants of Bradfield.

Well, here’s where we get into an issue. The company they hired, a New York-based engineering firm, decided that the air circulation patterns in Ithaca were the same as Syracuse. Syracuse built a power plant only a couple years earlier, so they decided to reuse the same data and apply it Ithaca. Essentially, they tried to swindle Cornell by selling them false data from another location.

Winds generally blow out of the west in Ithaca. However, in the situation where they would blow out of the east, as during some stormy days caused by east-coast lows, the pollution cloud was going to push over to Bradfield Hall and towards central campus. This pollution would have particulate matter that would drift down onto Tower Road and the Ag Quad. Well, no ones wants to be snowed on by cremated animal ash. Even worse, if it blew out of the northwest at a particularly strong clip, it was going to drift right over Forest Home. The increased height would have allowed it to carry farther away, but the new shorter height would cause particulates to fall a shorter diestance away, and they would be more concentrated, to unhealthy levels.

Well, the university didn’t know that at the time, so they bought the data. And it wasn’t until the final stages of the project that the mistake was realized (through an interdepartmental study independent of the project). The Town of Ithaca wouldn’t give final approval in light of the news. Well, Cornell was just a little upset, so they decided to bring a lawsuit onto the company for their actions, and Cornell had to scrap the 160-foot plan.

Well, due to the air ciruclation patterns and sight lines, a large smockstack just wouldn’t be suitable for their desired location. And Cornell was already set for a major expansion of the Vet School, so they scrapped the plan entirely. The Vet Education building, built in 1993, was the final incarnation of the incinerator project, in which there was no incinerator at all. And the large Vet Hospital would be built four years later, dooming any future proposal nearby.

So, some of you might be wondering about the heating plant, which is to the south. The smokestacks there are outfitted heavily with scrubbers, so the vast majority of the smoke is water vapor, and not nearly as toxic as the smoke from the vet school smokestack would have been.

~~~~

And in other news, House 5 has been deemed “Flora Rose House”, after a professor who was among the first to staff the school of Home Economics (Human Ecology).


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Let’s Go Downtown, Part II

14 09 2008

The Cornell Daily Sun Building on West State Street. Notably, the Daily Sun was not the first newspaper on campus, but rather took the title from the Cornell Era, which was founded shortly after the school opened, and then after twenty years or so began to take a different direction (literary journal) that would lead it into obscurity and termination. The Sun also holds the prestigious title of being the oldest continually-independent college daily in the U.S. [1]. I believe the printing press is on site, but if someone wants to provide a little more detail on that, please be my guest.

As for the building itself, it was built in 1916 and was the home of the Elks Lodge in Ithaca. The Daily Sun’s Alumni Association bought the structure in 2003 and completely renovated it over the next several months. The building also happens to be located next door to the Ithaca’s Journal’s offices (who don’t even print here—they print in Johnson City, near Binghamton [2]).

The Immaculate Conception Church is a Catholic Church in Ithaca that falls under the Archdiocese in Rochester. The building was constructed in 1898 and designed by architect A.B. Wood [3].

Across the street is St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Chruch. It was constructed in the 1900s.

Shortstop Deli is a popular sub/deli/convenience store near downtown Ithaca. The Deli was founded in 1978 by Albert Smith [4], although by my guess the buidling dates from the 1950s. Shortstop is also the company that owns The Hot Truck.

The Clinton House was built as an upscale office and hotel building in 1828-1829 [5]. Designed by Ira Tillotson, it is named for NY Governor DeWitt Clinton (DeWitt Park is up the street). The building has been renovated numerous times in its nearly 200-year history, which is clearly evident by the glass wall stairway addition in the rear of the structure and the colonial details that were added in a 1901 renovation of the building, after a fire destroyed the roof and upper floors. The building underwent renovations again in 1985-1987 and more recently in the mid 2000s, returning Clinton House to it’s “1852-1862 era appaearance”. The building is maintained by the NPO Historic Ithaca, but the last I heard they were seeking to sell it to a willing buyer.

Admit it, you’ve thought about going here if you haven’t already.

The Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) on Green Street. The building was originally a Woolworth’s department store until it closed in 1998, and it was renovated into the library space in 2000. Prior to that time, the library was located about five block farther north in a ca. 1968 building. The first library was a gift from Ezra Cornell to the city, but later went into private use, and it was torn down in 1960 [6].

So I had a special request for this photo. The State Street Theater was originally built as the Ithaca Security Garage Auto Company and Dealership, built in 1915. The building was renovated into a theatre by the Berinstein family and opened as a theatre on December 6, 1928. Due to changing times, the theatre struggled to remain open past the mid-century and closed by the 1980s. Slated for demolition in the mid 1990s due to a number of structural and health concerns, a grassroots effort to resotre the theatre took hold, and enough funds and renovated were completed in the late 1990s that it was reopened on December 5, 2001 [7]. Today, the theatre continues a slow but steady renovation, and hosts a number of live acts from music groups to comedians.

Yes, Ithaca has a Holiday Inn too. The low-rise portion of the building was built in 1972 as a Ramada Inn. The tower was built in 1984/85.

As I mentioned previously, the City Hall and Town Hall are two different structures for two different entities. City Hall dates from the 1930s. The original city hall, if you’re lucky enough to find an old photo of it, had the appearance of a country church.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornell_Daily_Sun

[2]http://theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/CUSTOMERSERVICE02/50411002

[3]http://www.immconch.org/history.html

[4]http://www.shortstopdeli.com/welcome.htm

[5]http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B0374E3DD-2B1E-49D3-AA16-ECA42FEF728F%7D&DE=%7B6C41E3A4-5DC1-4EA1-AD3F-32631AF0F4F4%7D

[6]http://www.tcpl.org/about/history.html

[7]http://www.stateofithaca.com/statetheatrehistory.html


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Going Downtown

3 09 2008

Information that might be worth knowing about Downtown Ithaca, so you can impress your friends by making it sound like you actually leave Cornell and Collegetown.

Built in 1914, the quirky DeWitt Mall (named for Dewitt Clinton) formerly served as the city’s high school before the new facility on Lake Street was built in 1960-61. Apart from having a bunch or quirky shops and stores, the building’s sub-street storefront is home to Moosewood Restaurant (est. 1973 [1]) of vegetarian dining fame.

Seneca Place on the Commons is one of the largest buildings by gross area in downtown Ithaca. The 121-ft. tall, $32 million building was completed in 2005 by Criminelli Development [1]. It houses 100,000 sq. ft. of offices (Cornell is the primary tenant at about 70,000 sq. ft.) and a 104-room Hilton Garden Inn [2]. Starbucks and Kilpatrick’s faux-Irish pub make up the ground floor retail. The site was previous home to a parking area and two low-rise buildings.

The beige box on the left is the Community Bank Building, which was built about 1981. The previous structure on the site, a four-story YMCA building, burnt down in a reported arson in 1978. The building on the right is the older portion of the Ithaca Town Hall (not that it’s not Ithaca City Hall, which is another building), which dates from 1858[3]. Prior to renovation in 2000, it was the (vastly underused) main Post Office in Ithaca.

The M&T Bank Building, formally known as Tioga Place, was originally built in 1924 [4]. The awkward addition, like a piece of food stuck between someone’s two front teeth, was built on a half century later.

Center Ithaca, on the Commons. The building was built in 1981. It was an early attempt at a mixed-use structure designed to take advantage of the Commons and to make the area more lively. Well, didn’t really work out as planned. Rothschild’s, a department store that was the ground-floor anchor, closed early on. The 62 apartments were difficult to rent out at a time when downtowns were still considered dangerous places to be. And it ran over-budget, pushing its developer and the cash-strapped city into financial hell. Today, the building has worked out most of its kinks, but it didn’t fulfill its original goal, so it worked with mixed results.

Token Commons shot. Completed in 1974 on what was a part of State Street, the Commons was the brainchild on Thys Van Cort, the recently-selected city planner. Pedestrian malls were all the rage in the 1970s; most closed down within a few years. Ithaca’s has persisted, much to the delight (or loathing) of locals. Talk around, and you’ll find some adore the Commons, and some want it turned into a street with parking on the sides. Whichever you prefer, it’s there for the time being. The tracks in the foreground mark where the streetcars used to turn in the downtown area before they closed in 1935/36.

The foreground building that houses Viva Taqueria is the Wanzer Block, which dates from 1905. The building that hugs it in an L-shape is the Roy H. Park building, which was built in the 1990s. Roy H. Park was an Ithaca-residing executive for Proctor & Gamble who was also a substantial donor and investor in Ithaca College and  the surrounding area.

For now, it’s a parking lot. By 2010, as long as things stay on schedule, this will be the site of a 9-story, $17 million,  102-room Radisson hotel by Rimland Associates (rumors have it to be a Radisson, but it will be a recognized chain that occupies the new building) [6].

The center building is the Tompkins County Health Services Building, constructed in 1990 [7]. On the right is the nearly-finished Cayuga Green Apartments, a 59-unit building that will house Cinemapolis on the streetfront. The Parking garage on the left (built in 2005), will see the addition of a seven-story, 30-unit condo tower (Cayuga Green Condos) on the backside (the side facing this photo).

http://www.josegarciadesign.com/images/cayuga-condo00.jpg

I know, bad photo, but it’s visible most everywhere else in Ithaca City. Limestone Tower, built in 1932, is slated for an apartment conversion and renovation by the Ithaca Rental Company and its head, Jason Fane. The building  was originally built for the G.L.F. Exchange Farmers’ Association.

Just outside of downtown is the William Henry Miller Inn. William Henry Miller, of course, was one of the first Cornell architect graduates, and also designed Uris Libe and Boardman Hall. He designed this house and its carriage house, which were built in 1880 and 1892 respectively [8].

 

[1]http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/aboutus.html

[2]http://www.re.cornell.edu/senecaplace.htm

[3]http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/newtown.htm

[4]http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=tiogaplace-ithaca-ny-usa

[5]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_H._Park

[6]http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_20080418/ai_n25443972

[7]http://www.kwikfold.com/Pictures-PhotoWork/Hascup.jpg

[8]http://www.millerinn.com/inn.htm


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News Tidbits 8/26/08

25 08 2008

So, perusing through the planning board meeting, this nifty little addition appeared for the city’s meeting Monday evening:

5. Site Plan Review
A. Site Plan Review, Delta Chi Fraternity Parking Lot Expansion, 102 The Knoll, Jagat P. Sharma,
Applicant for owner DCEF Cornell LLC. Lead Agency and Public Hearing. The applicant proposes to
expand the existing 10 car gravel parking lot along Barton Place to accommodate a total of 22 parking spaces. The proposed parking is one way, maintaining the current access and adding an egress point at the northern driveway on Barton Place. Proposed site work and improvements include removal of 2,700SF of trees, shrubs and vegetation, grading, new curbing at entrance and egress, relocation of guy wire, relocation of signage, landscaping, and installation of a masonry retaining wall approximately 4′ high and 80′ long along the northwest side of the parking area. Proposed surface of parking area is compacted gravel. This project received ILPC approval on 3-13-08. This is a Type 1 Action under both the City of Ithaca Environmental Quality Review Ordinance §176-4 B. (1) (h) [2] & [4] and an Unlisted Action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and is subject to environmental review. (Materials sent previously)

~~~

Are you serious? Jagat Sharma, the architect of the project, has made his name by designing the apartment towers in Collegetown and some of the luxurious lakeside mansions in the Ithaca area. And Delta Chi hired his firm to design…a gravel parking lot expansion? I mean, couldn’t you get a standard construction company to just tear a base into the ground and lay the gravel without paying all the extra money for a bigger-name architectural firm to design it? If Delta Chi were building an addition, I could understand, but a gravel parking lot? Talk about money to burn.

I was wondering why there were construction permit signs going up over there with Sharma’s name listed as the architect. I honestly thought at first they were building a gatehouse or something. The other items for the meeting are nothing special; a house, roofwork on Eddygate, and a subdivision.

 EDIT 8/27: It’s a news tidbit, so I though I ‘d throw it in here.

http://cornellsun.com/node/31200

It’a a sun article talking about how Cornell gets bashed and we should give our detractors a f*ck off farewell. While I agree with the article’s sentiment wholeheartedly, I should point out one little fallacy- those pins with the “I’m the Hottest” crap were free. We gave them out as a promo to get you to buy random crap, and we still have a sh*t ton of them somewhere in our warehouse across town.

 


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News Tidbits 8/5/08: The Development of Ithaca Gun

6 08 2008

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2008/07/30/city-ithaca-pledges-overhaul-contaminated-gun-factory-site

 

 

 

 

 

City of Ithaca Pledges to Overhaul Contaminated Gun Factory Site

July 30, 2008 – 12:35am
By Molly OToole

On May 30, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced a final resolution for the Ithaca Gun Factory Site, closing a long and precarious chapter in the City of Ithaca’s history. However, many Ithacans feel the future of the site may still be up in the air.

The DEC — in cooperation with Mayor Carolyn Peterson, the City of Ithaca, developers Frost Travis, owner Wally Diehl and a previous pledge by the state — has authored a plan to dissolve the old Ithaca Gun Factory, which has been left stagnating above the rushing waters of Ithaca Falls for the past 125 years.

The $3.02 million public-private partnership — which includes the state’s Restore N.Y. grant contribution — aims to not only fully remediate the site, but to also return it to the public eye by putting in a new public park. A pledge of over $11 million from a voluntary cleanup program and private donations will fund 33 luxury condominiums to be built over this hazardous history with the hope of giving the site a healthier future.

The DEC intends to cover 90 percent of the investigation and remediation of Ithaca Falls Overlook Park with its pledged $700,200 from the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, which is part of the Environmental Restoration Program. Dianne Carleton of the DEC described the program as a “funding mechanism to protect or improve water issues.” These funds join the $2.3 million Restore N.Y. Grant presented to the City in January by former governor Eliot Spitzer for demolition of the factory buildings.

According to a project file of the Ithaca Gun site provided by the New York State Department of Health, demolition is slated to begin in early August.

Optimistically, the new condos could be available for purchase sometime in late 2009 or mid-2010, according to Travis, but he added, “I can tell you the start and complete dates are somewhat of a moving target with respect to development and construction. We won’t know until we’re in the process.” (cont.)

***

So, I’m always curious about what a new construction will look like. Unfortunately, nothing’s been released for the time being, and probably won’t for the next several months. However, that doesn’t stop speculation.

Consider the developer, Travis and Travis Inc. The firm is responsible for one other major new construction in the Ithaca area; Gateway Commons, a six-story apartment building on East State Street that was completed in early 2007.

The building on the right.

 

The building was designed by HOLT architects. Now, some developers end up forming a preference for a certain architectural firm. If this were the case with Travis and Travis, then they might seek a continued professional relationship with HOLT architects.

 In this case, the design is for 33 condominiums, limited in height to no more than about 50 feet. This was the end deal of an arduous and exasperating phase in its planning. Developer Wally Diehl wanted to develop the property in 2003, and turn it into a seven-story, 160-unit building with a two-story parking garage [1]. Needless to say, neighbors raised out, citing lost views and a loss of neighborhood character (apparently, the factory that was there 100 years was perfectly acceptable). Diehl tried an 80-unit, 50 ft. tall proposal (no higher than the old factory), but he complained that it was not privately feasible anymore, so the property sat, and a fire in August 2006 served as a wake-up call that the property had to be demolished ASAP (hobos and vandals go in all the time, so sit back and imagine the lawsuit on Ithaca city if someone went in and died inside, even though the factory is considered a hazardous site).

By hazardous site, a couple of things worth noting. The factory made guns for 126 years, closing in 1986. They used a lot of lead. This directly lead to the high lead levels in Fall Creek, where it flows next to the site, and where it was (is?) 500 times beyond the EPA safety level. An effort in 2004 to clean it was attempted by the EPA for 4.8 million dollars in Superfund money. But, lo and behold, they failed to adequately clean it, as lead levels were 460 times higher than the EPA’s goal. Ouch. Oh, and the IJ revealed in 2000 that the site was used to test uranium tubes, so there was uranium contamination as well [2]. So, the site was about as environmentally screwed up as it can get (with the exception of the Love Canal and Chernobyl).

 So the third proposal, backed by a $2.3 million dollar state grant and a $700,200 grant to reclean the site (and $10 million in private funding, through a partnership of Frost Travis and Wally Diehl), offers 33 high-end condos,a public promenade and a small public overlook that includes the smokestack of the factory. Finally, the majority of the opposed now appeased, it looks like everything is ready to go. One hopes.

So back to my curiosity about the design. Picking around the HOLT website [3], one finds their healthcare and higher ed portions of their portfolio. But, they designed student dorms for a couple of schools. So let’s profile those, since they were small-scale living units.

Townhouses, Colgate
Apartments, U. of Vermont

Apartments, U. of Vermont

 So, a rough idea of their design guidelines seems to be postmodern, with rustic influences. It helps that this company seems to have a strong attachment to Cornell; Carpenter Hall renovations, Tatkon Center, Sigma Chi renovations, Goldwin Smith reno, Donlon reno, among others. And they did several designs for IC buildings, so they just love it here (and considering they’re HQ’ed on N. Aurora Street, makes plenty of sense).

So, what might a high-end condo look like? I venture pitched roofs, dormers, and pillared entryways, with a height around 3 of 4 floors. The design will definitely not be a classic, but will have traditional elements, not too unlike the neighboring Gun Hill Apartments.

 [1]http://cornellsun.com/node/26431

[2]http://cornellsun.com/node/26384

[3]http://www.holt.com/S.html


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