As students prepare to leave campus for the summer, construction is ramping up with more renovations to Sadler Hall to begin within weeks.

The renovations to Sadler include construction to bathrooms in the West wing and continuing renovations to the dining hall. Washington Arms will also receive bathroom renovations. The housing office is also looking at future construction projects at Shaw Hall, said Rex Giardine, assistant director for capital projects at Syracuse University.

Construction will be completed at Sadler sometime between commencement weekend and early arrival dates in August, Giardine said.

“Failure is not an option,” he said. “We always deliver.”

Last summer, Sadler underwent construction on its bathrooms in the east wings of all eight floors. What were once known as “gang bathrooms” were reconstructed into seven and a half individual baths, making them more versatile, Giardine said.

The full renovation project, which began last summer, will take two years to complete because students occupy the residence hall during the school year.

Renovating the Sadler bathrooms was a strategic move by the housing office to update the living facility, Giardine said. Bathrooms are the most frequently used feature in a residence hall and tend to wear out the fastest, he said.

“In the residence hall, the bathroom is always where the most acute need is,” he said.

Several Sadler residents said they appreciate the new bathrooms installed last year.

“I think that (the individual bathrooms) are nice, for the most part. I live on the side with single bathrooms, so let’s just say that’s 10 times better than communal,” said Samuel Bailey, a freshman electrical engineering major.

Brandon Bacon, an undecided freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he liked the single bathrooms because they vary in size.

Renovations to bathrooms and bedrooms have been made to Lawrinson, Shaw, Brewster, Boland and Brockway halls during the past six years, Giardine said. Working on the bathrooms is said to be the most cost effective way to update a residence hall, rather than doing construction on the whole building, he said.

The bathrooms in Washington Arms will also be renovated this year, he said. DellPlain and Watson halls are also expected to have renovations to their bathrooms in the future, depending on whether they are deemed necessary, he said.

Sadler Dining Center is currently under construction and will expand north by approximately 100 feet, Giardine said. A new entrance is being made on the north side of the building for non-residents who want to access the dining hall. This will prevent people from coming through the residence hall to eat in the dining hall, which is similar to the situation in Shaw, he said.

An elevator will be installed in Sadler that will take students from the lobby to the dining hall. An additional staircase will also be created for students to get to the dining hall, Giardine said. The location of the washroom in the dining hall will also be moved closer to the new exit, he said.

The changes being made to the dining hall will give it a “fresh look,” Giardine said.

New furniture is expected in Sadler in the future, as well, dependent on need, he said. The closet doors, dressers and desks currently in Sadler came with the building and need to be refurbished or completely replaced, he said.

Next summer, construction on Shaw will continue with the addition of new bedrooms to its upper floors. Singles and doubles will be placed where classrooms once existed. The main entry to the residence hall will also be moved to Euclid Avenue and the current main entrance will be used as a fire exit, Giardine said.

People eating in Shaw Dining Center will no longer have to go through the residence hall to do so, giving residents more privacy in their living quarters, he said. Construction on an additional elevator this summer in Shaw will also begin. Construction is slated to finish next summer.

Said Giardine: “Housing has been working hard to improve the student experience.”

Published on April 22, 2013 at 12:33 am

Contact Olivia: otjohnso@syr.edu