The Official Residence Hall Project Blog!
August 26, 2007:
Well, it's over! Today Blackstone Hall opens for all students to enjoy.
The month of August was a test of wills and a test of well... the building, as
students began arriving early and kept coming in throughout the month.
Little details like window drapes came in at the last minute, and even now there
will be some fine tuning that takes place until everything is really broken in.
The good news is that students have been very pleased with the building and the
residents seem happy to be coming back to such a beautiful new facility.
On behalf of RLH I'd like to extend my thanks to those of you who have
followed the progress of the building from the start, here online, and in person
through tours and visits. I'd also like to extend a thank you to our
general contractor, Consigli Construction Company, Inc. and to our architectural
firm, Chan Krieger Sieniewicz. Both companies worked extremely hard on
this project and their efforts are evident throughout Blackstone Hall. We
also want to thank Paul Bottis and everyone at Physical Plant who also worked
extremely hard on this project.
It's been fun, and now it's real. Here's to Blackstone Hall!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
August 2, 2007:
Holy Cow! Is that August I just typed up there?
I can't even believe it, but Blackstone Hall opens in like... 6 days!
The scramble is on to finish those last minute details, but I think we will be
in good shape. The first to arrive might have a few details missing, but
by the time the masses get here I think the wrinkles will be ironed out.
Today I was over there and the computers are going in to the Laundry Center.
I also purchased the 2 plasma TVs and installed them today as well (42"
in the Laundry Center, 50" in the main lounge).
Outside the sod is all in and the place looks spectacular! I took a
bunch of pictures and am putting them up a gallery dedicated solely to exterior
photos!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
July 17, 2007:
I know I haven't been great about updating the blog this summer... sorry for
that! Part of the reason for my negligence has been that it's really busy
around here during the summer (First Year assignment letters just went out
yesterday!), but the bigger reason is that until last week, there hasn't been
much to tell you about. The new flooring I spoke of last week went in
slowly during the month of May and early june, and other than landscaping the
only major work going on was detail work and various system calibrations, etc.
Nothing that I could really photograph and talk about on here. I didn't
think you'd be all that interested in photos of ITS guys connecting the Ethernet
ports up or of the guys fine tuning the 5 card access doors. Thats about
all that was really going on in Blackstone this summer. Every project
reaches a point where it seems (an incorrect observation) like things just
stop... thats kind of how it's been as of late. That all changed last week
when every day we got 2 more trucks of furniture! Setting up 208 bedroom
sets, 44 apartment units, and countless study and common lounge spaces takes
time, and finally today I was able to go in and get the photos so many of you
guys have been emailing me about! These photos are up now in the
Gallery!
A few misc. pieces of info... the hall is on scheduled to open on time
(August 26th for everyone but the early arrivals and RAs). We currently
have a temporary Certificate of Occupancy, and as soon as the landscaping is
done (Sod is coming soon), we'll have the permanent one. August will be
here SOON!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
April 24, 2007:
A lot has taken place during this past month, much of it having to do with a
problem that arose in the cork flooring specified for the project. After
laying the cork, we began to experience curling and unevenness at the seams of
the tile. After weeks of experimentation with different adhesives and
types of cork tile, it was determined that the product was defective and could
not be used. Due to the long lead time to get a different batch of cork,
and our doubt that another batch wouldn't have the same problems, we have
decided to go with a different product. What we are now using is a
laminate faux wood flooring that is 67% recycled and looks just like hardwood
flooring. This product looks amazing (most of us like it better than the
cork), and should be just as durable. New photos are up now in the
Gallery!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
March 9, 2007:
I finally got over to see Blackstone. Let me tell you whoever gets to live over
there is pretty lucky. What a place! I was very impressed! The shared kitchens
are unbelievable. From the Corian countertops to the tiled blue and green
backsplash it is beautiful. The kitchen cabinets are great a lot of space.
The carpeting in the common area is nice… great windows. The doubles and singles
have the biggest closets I have ever seen in a Resident’s Hall! The bathrooms in
the apartments have beautiful tile work as well. I have to say my favorite thing
is the island in the kitchen!
From there Kevin took me all around, and there are tons of storage and great
recycling areas. The laundry room on the 3rd floor is unbelievable. While you
are waiting for your laundry to be done you can use the new computers that will
be right in the laundry room. When you come in through the main entrance there
is a common area with a nice big flat screen television with couches and chairs.
I can’t wait to go back and see it when it is finished! Lisa Jano, RLH
Office Assistant
March 8, 2007:
I'm making a consorted effort to avoid waiting so long between blog entries.
This month it's pretty easy to write stuff because I am really excited about the
progress I've seen in the past couple of weeks. This morning I took our
Office Assistant extraordinaire Lisa Jano over to see the building for the first
time and I think she was impressed. Lisa will actually be
submitting her own blog to offer an opinion other than my own! So the biggest
excitement for me today was seeing the cork flooring and carpet installed in
some of the 4th floor apartments. This really makes the units look so much
closer to completion, and you can really get a good idea of what it will look
like furnished and finished. Unfortunately I couldn't find my camera this
morning on the way over so I didn't get any pictures, but I will early next
week... promise. Speaking of early next week, I am excited that we will be
taking groups of students through Blackstone for the first time. While
it's nowhere near finished, we want students to get a sneak peek at the building
before Lottery so they can decide whether they would like to live there.
We're offering tours on Monday 3/12, Tuesday 3/13, and Wednesday 3/14 from
3:30-5:00PM. As of writing this there are still a number of spaces left on
some of the tours so if you're reading this and you would like to come, let us
know. If you don't make it, be sure to ask your friends what they thought.
Hope to see you all there! Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
February 22, 2007:
Well it's been about 6 weeks since my last update and there is much to fill
you in on. Besides the onset of winter, and frigid temperatures, the last
month and a half has brought some of the most significant progress we've seen
since the metal skeleton was being assembled in the summer. When I lasted
posted I was talking about the first cabinets arriving... now most all of the
units have them installed. Many units also have their countertops and tile
backsplashes in place as well. Tile work in the bathrooms is nearly
finished, with really stunning results. Almost all of the sheetrock and
painting is complete, and details like light fixtures, faucets, etc. are all
being or are already installed. In fact, the last two weeks have brought a
tremendous amount of work to the suites, including the installation of many
interior doors, etc.
On the outside, window boxes (wooden architectural elements covered in zinc
cladding) are being installed every day as they arrive on site from being
assembled. These window boxes give the building a look not found anywhere
on campus currently. You can see them best along Beaver Street as that
side is where most of them have been installed thus far.
With the announcement of the Housing Selection process, I can talk a bit more
about what living in Blackstone will be like. The cost, which has been a
burning question for many students since the project was announced, was set by
the Board of Trustees earlier in February. As many of you have determined,
living in Blackstone will cost $750 more per semester than living in a standard
double or single. Blackstone Hall will be $250 more per semester than
living in an RLH House. We believe that the level of comfort and amenities
offered in in Blackstone Hall will be well worth the additional expense.
As students living in Blackstone will have their own fully functional kitchen
facilities, there will be additional cost savings associated with cooking for
one's self. Students in Blackstone will have access to other great
features like the outdoor patio on the 4th floor, the wireless internet and
computer stations in the laundry room, the beautiful flat screen TVs, and the
magnificent study and lounge spaces to name a few.
Students living in Blackstone Hall will have access to their apartments
throughout the entire year. There is no additional cost to stay in
Blackstone during the winter break when other buildings must vacate. There
is also likely to be a summer housing option for residents looking for full year
round housing.
If you are interested in living in Blackstone Hall, you should be applying
for Housing Lottery through the My
Lottery online Housing Selection Registration form. Blackstone
Hall will be selected on the first night of Lottery, and students will be called
slightly different than in other Lottery processes. For more information
on how this will work, check out this
information.
I hope everyone is as excited about Blackstone Hall as we are. It will
truly be spectacular!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
January 11, 2007:
Happy New Year. The new hall has a name! It's Blackstone Hall,
and I personally like it a LOT! In creating a "working name" (a name to
use up until or in lieu of a name given in dedication) for the hall, we wanted
to choose a name that had significance not only to Clark, but to the surrounding
community as well. In choosing Blackstone Hall, we have paid tribute to
the Blackstone River, and the Blackstone River Valley as a whole, both integral
and essential aspects of Worcester and Central Massachusetts.
Besides the addition of a great name, the project is moving along
wonderfully! The exterior brickwork is all but done, the windows are
almost all in, and the window boxes (the zinc covered details that surround the
windows on the hall) are arriving daily and being installed as they come.
Inside the hall almost all interior walls are finished and sheet rocked.
Interior brickwork is done, and tile work is underway in much of buildings Y and
Z. There are even kitchen cabinets being hung in building Z this week!
Much work has been accomplished behind the scenes in determining logistical
details for Blackstone Hall. Things like lottery process, room rates,
amenities, contract terms, etc. have been under discussion for a long time and
are almost ready. I can't get into to many details until they are
official, but I'll promise you will be learning much more about this facility in
the next month.
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
December 11, 2006:
It's been a while since I have had a chance to report on the building's
progress. Things continue to move at great speed, and every time I go
on-site I find new things to appreciate. At this point the building is
almost completely enclosed. Temporary windows have been fabricated from
simple materials as we await the arrival of the permanent units. Those
should begin going into building Z this week. Brickwork is largely
complete on buildings Y and Z, but due to the cold, building X had to be tented
and heated to finish brickwork there. All bricks should be laid in the
next 3 to 4 weeks.
Inside, buildings Y and Z are really taking shape. Building Z is almost
completely sheet rocked, and details like tiling the bathrooms is underway.
Brick layers have been working in the study lounges, which have brick interior
walls. The beauty of the interior design is becoming clear as the walls go
up and you get a better sense of the dimensioning of spaces. For example,
the jog between buildings Y and Z has created a wonderful break in the hallway,
making what would have been an awkwardly long hallway (think MSH and WH
combined!) a very nice pathway with seating areas and bonus space.
The suites themselves look great. They remind me of Maywood Street Hall
only with better common space and full kitchens. They also have very nice
bath and closet facilities. The units with 4 singles have the extra
benefit of a completely separate half bath! How nice is that?!?!
Students lucky enough to live anywhere in this building will have a wonderful
experience.
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
October 12, 2006:
The crew is really cruising on the building. Building Z is still ahead
of its companion sections, but the gap is closing. Building Y has a
finished roof over it and the insulation on the walls is close to finished... it's
just awaiting waterproofing. Building X is the farthest behind, but that's
the way the project is designed to be run. Only in the last months do I
expect to see the three sections close to each other in terms of progress.
At this time X is still being detailed and things like the stairs are going in.
Within the next week I expect to see steel studs in place.
Back to Z... wow, that is really looking great! Electrical, fire
safety, and pluming systems are largely in place, and even some finish products
like shower bases are in. The walls are all framed out, and doorframes are
in place. Soon we'll see drywall going up and before too long I'll be able
to take some photos of what an apartment unit is really going to look like.
There are photos up now that give you a good idea of the layout and basic look
of the units.
On the exterior, workers are starting to lay the bricks that will ultimately
side the whole building. Helping the brick layers is a massive system of
moving platforms called Fratco lifts. These lifts ride up and down on
massive legs that are temporarily bolted to the building through the windows.
These lifts help the brick layers work up and down the building without ladders
or lugging bricks up scaffolding. They're very cool!
I've added a lot more photos since my last blog entry. Also, Anthony
over in ITS hooked us up with the "Stage 2" video, which is the timelapse of the
building steel going in place, etc. That is up on the media gallery
page with new photos from October.
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
September 13, 2006:
The construction is going great! Yesterday before our weekly
construction meeting I walked the site and took a bunch of photos of the work in
progress. These pictures are up on the media gallery page, and I hope to
add more in the next two weeks.
The view from the top is fantastic. I was up on the fourth floor of
section Z and took a few shots to give you an idea of what things look like from
up there... it's pretty neat. Paul Bottis says the view is even better
from the roof, but I've yet to go up there, so I'll take his word for it and
maybe report back later if I get brave enough!
Right now the state of the building is kind of a snapshot of the evolution of
it's progress. Building X is in the final stages of major steel
construction, while building Y is in the steel detail stage and close to
accepting concrete for it's floors. Building Z remains the forerunner of
progress, with steel studs, insulated exterior panels, and interior layout work
underway. We expect to see brickwork in progress in the next two weeks.
The goal is to have all brickwork done and have the building enclosed by winter.
That seems like a lofty task, but a month ago I would have been shocked if
someone told me that yesterday I'd be walking around on the 4th floor of the
building!
I updated the website a lot today, adding a photo show for some of the
pictures I took yesterday. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check
out the timelapse movie of the demolition of the old houses. I owe many
thanks to Anthony Helm of ITS for compiling the webcam shots into the movie, and
many thanks to you for your interest in this project!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
August 9, 2006:
First post: The project website is just about ready to launch, so I figured
I'd better put something in the Blog! The project has been going along
well so far. We are on schedule and budget, and today the first steel
parts arrived and began going up on the Z pod. For those who are
wondering, the construction guys refer to this project as three buildings... X,
Y, and Z. X buidling is the pod closest to Florence Street, Y is in the
middle, and Z is closest to the Lasry Center. Work began on Z, so it will
also be the first part done. While steel is going up on Z, X and Y are
still getting concrete footings and floors poured. Building the structure
as three units makes a lot of sense, as sub contractors like the steel guys are
not waiting on the whole foundation to be finished before they can start.
As Paul Bottis, Director of Physical Plant reminds our construction company
every week when we meet, THE BUILDING MUST BE DONE ON TIME!
To get you all up to speed with where we've been... well it's been a wild
ride. Construction started even before the students left, but the bulk of
it kicked in right after graduation. The process of tearing down the 7
houses was a longer one than planned, as asbestos materials were found which
required abatement. There was also some delay with the city on
disconnecting sewer and water services, etc. Nonetheless, the first house
(18-20 Beaver) came down on June 21st, and the rest followed quickly.
By the end of July the footings and underground piping were ready for
building Z. The first slab was poured last week, and was "wet cured over
the past week or so". Wet curing is the process of letting a concrete
harden while still wet. If you let normal concreter cure too fast, it will
crack, so usually concrete is mixed with a curing agent, that allows it to cure
dry without cracking. It was determined that a curing agent would cause
problems with the flooring we intend to use sticking to the concrete, so a
decision was made to wet cure the slabs. To do this a sprinkler is used to
keep the concrete wet constantly until it is cured. It takes longer, but
it will make the flooring last. Coincidently, for this building we are
using tiles which are made of renewable cork and have a lifespan of 50+ years.
We don't want them to come unglued because we rushed the concrete work.
The erection of the steel frame marks a major milestone. After Z is
ready work will rapidly progress to Y and X, and before we know it we will have
an iron skeleton out there instead of a desolate lot as it looks now. So
many great things ahead, and we'll be sure to keep you posted!
Kevin Forti, Director of RLH
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