Maintenance, construction projects now underway on Main Quad

Scaffolding lines the walls of the east side of the Administration Building, as masonry and roofing projects get underway.

This summer, ongoing improvements to the University’s physical plant will include a variety of projects on the Main Quadrangle and surrounding area. The projects began this month, as University Facilities Services began work on utility infrastructure construction that is expected to be completed in August.

For most of the summer months, the projects will significantly limit access to the Main Quadrangle. While all the buildings that sit on the Main Quad will be accessible, there will be pedway bridges in various areas to allow pedestrians to cross the open trenches during construction. There also will be shorter plank bridges for work that will be done at the Erman Biology Center and the Oriental Institute.

Facilities Services teams will install two new, chilled water lines from the Zoology Building to the south side of Swift Hall, and two new branches between Culver Hall and Kent Hall; the Erman Biology Center and the Ryerson Physical Laboratory; and on the north side of Swift Hall and the south sides of Rosenwald and Hitchcock halls.

Crews also will install new steam and condensate lines to serve the Interdivisional Research Building, now under construction, running through the utility tunnel on the east side of the Administration Building and crossing under Ellis Avenue to Jones Laboratory. Portions of the utility tunnel itself will be replaced under the sidewalk on the west side of Haskell Hall and under the roadway between Swift and Rosenwald halls.

A new underground electrical vault will be installed in the grass areas west of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, which will connect to the Oriental Institute, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, the President’s House, the Reynolds Club, the Zoology Building and the Erman Biology Center.

In a separate project, Facilities Services has scheduled extensive repair and replacement work on the roof of the Administration Building, as well as masonry cleaning and repairs and window sealing on all the outside walls.

Upgrades to the elevators in the Administration Building also will be completed this summer. The multiple entrance doors on the east and west sides of the 50-year-old Administration Building have recently been cleaned and restored to their original copper color.