In case you believe that the primary role of a Facility Services project manager at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ is to escort Campus Construction Update through work zones, we are here to disabuse you of that notion.

In fact, even after 18 years as CCU, we can still be surprised by the variety of tasks to which people like Paul Farnsworth, senior project manager, apply their creativity, people skills, and attention to detail.

Example: When the installation of artificial turf on ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ baseball field is complete, by mid-November or so, that process will actually render Leahey Field a hybrid. The new artificial turf will cover the infield and a margin just beyond the baselines (to extend benefits of the turf to the baseline action), but natural grass will remain the playing surface on most of the outfield.

Tools and supplies are scattered around the Leahey Field infield on Nov. 8 as workers install a FieldTurf playing surface. Home base is in the foreground. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Bound for Leahey Field, a truckload of FieldTurf artificial sod and related supplies arrives on Central Avenue near the field on Nov. 4. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The larger metal box, in the foreground, contains an electrical connection for the bullpens. The smaller green box protects an irrigation-system valve. The concrete curb and attached gasket enclose the area that will soon be topped with artificial turf. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

One of the two new bullpens — enclosures where relief pitchers can warm up — at Leahey Field. A FieldTurf playing surface has yet to be applied. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Supply chain in action: A flatbed semi sits on Central Avenue with a load of crumb-rubber infill for the new turf topping on Leahey Field. Stacked nearer the camera are rolls of the turf itself. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A flat, level surface is important to the proper installation of athletic field turf. The first few panels of the new Leahey Field turf laid on the infield are behind the roller. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A telescoping-arm forklift adds to the stockpile of sacks of crumb-rubber infill, delivered Nov. 6, for use in the artificial turf being installed at Leahey Field. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Placement of new FieldTurf on Leahey Field gets underway on Nov. 6 after a month of site preparation. The black panel is the underside of a sheet of turf that will be stitched and glued to the brown sheet underneath it and then turned right side up. Pay no attention to the shadow in the left foreground. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Newly carpeted in brown and green artificial turf, here’s one of two new bullpens under construction as part of the autumn 2024 renovation of Leahey Field. A spare piece of brown turf awaits removal from a straw mat that’s protecting newly planted grass. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Deja vu all over again: In action familiar from the summer installation of artificial turf at Russell Street Field, workers wrangle and fasten together panels of similar turf at Leahey Field on Nov. 6. Dan Gleason, FieldTurf site supervisor, uses a handheld sewing machine to stitch the seam as another worker precedes him with a compressed air hose to blow away debris. Others use grippers to support the heavy turf. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

With much of the new FieldTurf in place on Leahey Field, one group of workers is inserting white markings into the artificial grass. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

This mix of surfaces is new to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝.

Moreover, the boundary between the real and the manufactured sod includes a buried concrete curb and gasket that help to anchor the new FieldTurf. That raised a question: Might that curb affect how a ball that’s in play bounces or rolls?

Answering that fell to Farnsworth in collaboration with, among others, Facility Services colleagues (representing the Grounds and the Capital Planning and Construction teams) and folks from Athletics.

The research included visits to Bridgton (Maine) Academy, which has had the two-turfs arrangement for a few years. The ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ visitors even “rolled balls across the transition at Bridgton and found that it didn’t seem to make a difference,” Farnsworth says.

In addition, Farnsworth and Head Baseball Coach Jon Martin had a phone conversation with the coach at Chapman College, “which has this setup as well,” he adds.

That’s a fair amount of research to get a simple — but important — answer. 

If the FieldTurf brand sounds familiar, that’s because the manufacturer has already topped one playing field at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ this year: the soccer pitch on Russell Street. At Leahey, the turf product comes from the manufacturer’s baseball-specific DoublePlay line. Under the direction of construction management firm Shaw Brothers, based in Gorham, Maine, outdoor work on the project began Oct. 2.

The new infield surface will relieve problems inherent to the twin challenges of growing grass on soil rich in marine clay and maintaining the dirt portions of the infield. Those include poor drainage, vulnerability to grass damage, and a “feel” underfoot that varies with soil moisture. For instance, living grass must be covered with something waterproof before a rainfall or it will be too wet for play. Artificial turf drains immediately, so there’s no need to cover it.

Spring snowfalls pose similar problems: A field can be plowed once, but because snow acts as an insulator, a subsequent snowfall onto the bare grass is more likely to melt and make the ground too soft for a game. (And if you’re wondering why the outfield was mostly left natural, it’s because there’s much less traffic there during a game than the infield, so poor drainage is less of an impediment.)

Placement of the DoublePlay turf began this week. The month prior went into site preparation. Going down a foot or so, “they removed the topsoil and leveled off” the subsoil, Farnsworth says, and placed layers of crushed stone to promote drainage.

Toward that same end, new drainage infrastructure was implanted. That comprises so-called panel drains that conduct seepage to 12-inch collector pipes under the first and third baselines. Those pipes route the water to a concrete cistern and thence to the college runoff system that drains into Lake Andrews.

Based on the principle that what goes around comes around, not only was Leahey’s drainage system replaced but the irrigation system too. “A lot of the old irrigation was for the infield, which we don’t need anymore, so we had to reroute the feed to it. So there’s pretty much a whole new system in to handle the outfield,” Farnsworth says.

In addition to the curb created around the perimeter to secure the FieldTurf, concrete work included a pitching mound that, because of the wear it receives from the antics of pitchers’ feet, will be covered with a replaceable topper. That layer will be held in place with a hook-and-loop fastening (e.g., Velcro). 

Similar replaceable mats will cover the two batting boxes, as well.

Along the first- and third-base sidelines is more FieldTurf, for newly redesigned home and visitors’ bullpens. “What surprises a lot of people,” Farnsworth notes, “is that you’re required to give the bullpens the same surface as the field.” That enables pitchers to warm up on the same material that they’ll actually be standing on to throw.

“They’re large structures. They have to face the same direction you’re pitching in, toward the northwest. Obviously you don’t want to warm up facing the sun, when that’s not where you’re going to be pitching.”

Other chores include replacing grass along the perimeter of the infield, where excavation for the concrete curb was done. “We brought in sod the third week of October so we’d have something to play on come spring. If we had relied on loam and seed, it wouldn’t have grown enough by the time we start playing.” 

Finally, in order to keep foul balls and other ballistic curiosities from wreaking havoc among the cars parked along Central Avenue, Leahey will also get a new backstop and netting system — but not till after the 2025 baseball season has ended. The current net will serve till then.

“We didn’t think we’d make our schedule with so much additional work that has to be done before this turf went down,” Farnsworth explains, “so we elected to postpone the net until after the baseball season. We extended the new turf to the old backstop to get us through.”

“If we don’t get it done before snow flies, that’s how it’s going to be when the season starts.” The new net will be 40 feet high, secured by foundations 16 feet deep, and located about 20 feet closer to home plate than the current setup. New to the arrangement will be a 3-foot high masonry wall, brick-faced and padded on the field side.

And speaking of the Russell Street Field renovation, a final touch was applied there this week. Scoreboard Specialties of Mansfield, Mass., came north to install a new board at the soccer field.Ěý Featuring snazzy LED video displays, the unit was fabricated by Daktronics of Brookings, S.D. Funded by donors, the scoreboard is in memory of the late ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ track and cross country coach Al Fereshetian, who died in June 2024.Ěý

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions and comments about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “Say, who was that shadowy individual, anyway?” in the subject line.

Arriving at Russell Street Field on Sept. 16, we watched with interest as a young man set up electronic equipment on the brand-new surface of the soccer field. Our first thought was that he was preparing to broadcast via satellite the news about the newly renovated field to some distant land — perhaps Belgium, which got us thinking about french fries with mayonnaise.

But then we spoke to the man, whose name is Corbin Cleary and who is a field technician for Firefly Sports Testing, of Hookset, N.H. He explained that he was engaged in one of the final steps in the summer-long installation of the new FieldTurf playing surface: ensuring that the turf, a product called CORE, meets standards that pertain to the experience of the student athletes who use it.

For example, as Cleary explained, one of the factors he’d be measuring was the “Gmax” — the turf’s shock-absorbing properties, determined by dropping a test object at different points on the soccer field. (“Gmax” refers to the peak of deceleration during impact.) Other measurements included the planarity of the surface — its flatness — and the stability of the turf.

Corbin Cleary, a field technician for Firefly Sports Testing, sets up equipment on the new turf at Russell Street Field. Firefly collects turf performance data for manufacturer FieldTurf. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Complete except for final tests and a few punch list items: the new FieldTurf on the Russell Street soccer field on Sept. 16. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Looking northwest across the newly resurfaced soccer field at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ Russell Street sports complex. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The brand-new FieldTurf playing surface for soccer and other sports at Russell Street Field. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

To the left of the white curb at Russell Street Field is the brand-new FieldTurf soccer pitch, and at right is the Mondo track surface installed in 2022. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Site work is underway for a new javelin runway at this site east of the softball field. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A rigger, at left, and other workers observe on Sept. 5 as a Cote Corp. crane places one of four new field lights at Russell Street Field. The lighting work was part of a summer renovation of the field. (Theophil Syslo/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The business end of a new Musco field light array at Russell Street Field. Four such arrays were installed in early September. (Theophil Syslo/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Testing the new Musco field lights at Russell Street Field on Sept. 18. (Paul Farnsworth/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

And the new turf passed all the tests, meaning that the soccer field is ready for games to begin. The first post-renovation contest is set for Sept. 23, a women’s soccer match against Maine Maritime Academy. The Back to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ festivity will feature two games — not to mention the rededication of the Russell Street athletic complex — on Sept. 28.

However, and as usual, there were a few punch-list items to be addressed in the coming days. One final chore is depending on the weather. Seeding new grass in freshly landscaped areas will have to wait for a rainy spell that, at this writing, is nowhere in sight. And other work at the field unrelated to the soccer pitch will continue a little longer, as we’ll explain shortly.

Overall, after a delayed start caused by an overburdened state environmental permitting process, the soccer field makeover “has been great,” says Paul Farnsworth, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager for the field work. “We haven’t had any hiccups. Everyone showed up and did what they said they’d do.”

Meanwhile, beyond the new soccer turf and the track that encircles it (itself resurfaced two years ago), subsidiary projects are in their final days. Early in the summer, for the FieldTurf work, a temporary driveway for heavy machinery was opened from Lafayette Street, and that area is being restored to its former appearance.

More impressively, a large and neatly contoured trench has been dug between the softball field and the Cutten Maintenance Center, and that will become a “rain garden” — a plant-filled drainage structure designed to keep stormwater running off the softball field from overwhelming nearby Jepson Brook.

In the grassy areas surrounding the softball field, more athletic facilities are being completed. To the south, near St. Mary’s Health System property, concrete has been placed to serve as the new and improved launch pad for hammer and discus throwing. Nearby, new batting cages are being built.  Around the corner of the ballfield, parallel to Lafayette Street, what on Sept. 16 appeared to be a gravel road will soon become the college’s new runway for steel-tipped javelin throwing.

And the softball field itself will be refreshed with a smoothed playing surface — living grass and dirt this time — as well as newly painted dugouts and new safety fencing protecting the dugouts.

Dreams of field: The end of summer usually brings the end of outdoor construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, but 2024 is an exception. As the Russell Street Field work is wrapping up, general contractor Shaw Brothers and ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager Paul Farnsworth will head a half-mile west to launch a similar undertaking — replacing the entire soil-and-grass infield at the college’s baseball facility.

Field turf manufacturer FieldTurf, too, is again involved, this time supplying a product from its DoublePlay line, designed specifically for baseball. That’s because the dirt of Leahey Field is rich in marine clay, and thus in the attendant twin delights of poor drainage and soil consistency that’s ceramic-hard when dry and mucky when saturated. 

“It’s really about the student experience,” says Chris Streifel, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ director of capital planning and construction. Rainy weather leaves the “clay a soggy, sloppy, unplayable mess” that in extreme cases has caused games to be “canceled or relocated to fields at other institutions.”

The Leahey Field makeover is expected to be completed by the end of November, leaving the field ready for play in the spring.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, and reminiscences about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “Can’t you just boil the potatoes in mayonnaise?” in the subject line.

Since Aug. 19, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students have been sleeping, socializing, and preparing for the new year in the college’s newest campus residence, now open for business following a renovation that began last December.

With fresh paint, stylish furniture, and a striking new lounge, 96 Campus Avenue has welcomed a handful of early arrivals, including student Residence Life staff, leaders of forthcoming AESOP trips for first-year students, and athletes starting their practices.

With the influx of the full student body this weekend, 57 of the building’s 65 student beds will be filled. (A residence director also moved in last week.)

Following a period of years during which 96 Campus Avenue housed a day care and offices, the renovation has returned the three-story brick building to its residential roots. It was constructed in 1977 to house nuns of the Society of the Sisters of Charity, who worked at the facility nearby that is now known as St. Mary’s Health System.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ bought the building in 2021 and decided just 11 months ago to convert it into a dorm.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ newest student residence, seen from Campus Ave. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Having moved out of their office area at 96 Campus Avenue as the building’s makeover neared its end, Consigli Construction staff hold a meeting in the building’s new main lobby — formerly a truck bay. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

96 Campus Avenue awaits its inhabitants on Aug. 21, 2024. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A few students had already moved into 96 Campus Avenue when we visited on Aug. 21. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Student rooms at 96 Campus Avenue are ready for their occupants. This first-floor room faces east. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The bed, chests of drawers, a desk, and a chair in a single room at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Shown on the deck at 96 Campus Avenue are new picnic tables and Adirondack chairs that have supplemented the tables, at rear, that came with the building. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

“I feel good about the project — I mean, it was a great transformation,” Brian Lanoie, the Facility Services project manager in charge of the makeover, told us during an Aug. 21 tour. “It was extremely helpful that it was designed as a dormitory. 

“And we had a great team,” in project designers Lavallee | Brensinger Architects and construction management firm Consigli Construction. “We had the typical hiccups that you would expect, but we overcame those, and obviously we’re open on time.

“So overall, for the incredibly short timeframe we had, I’m very happy with the project.”

The city of Lewiston certified the building as fit for occupancy on Aug. 9, and on that same day Consigli returned control of the building to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ as the two parties agreed that the project was, in the formal term, substantially complete. Still, minor chores remained, Lanoie explained during our tour.

Most could be categorized as punch-list items — minor problems revealed during final inspections. Those included a “little bit of everything,” Lanoie said. For instance, back-ordered items awaiting installation: a unit heater, a few light fixtures, some door hardware.

Plus “a lot of touch-up painting. There’s woodwork that needs to be fixed or replaced in some areas. There’s a broken pane of glass that needs to be repaired. The bike rack isn’t installed yet.”

He continued, “When I looked this morning, there were 75 items still being tracked, and we’re probably going to find some more” encountered by occupants as they settle in.

Another late-in-the-game routine, though, is all but done. So-called commissioning, the process of testing the building’s utilities equipment, can be completed as soon as that back-ordered heater is installed. In fact, the firm providing the new building-management controls, Maine Controls, was scheduled to train Facility Services staff on Aug. 22.

Moving away from punch-lists and commissioning, the 96 Campus Avenue grounds still need touching up. St. Laurent & Son, the local firm responsible for site work on the project, will patch the lawn where construction equipment gouged it around the building. Meanwhile, in a separate project, Gottlieb Landscape Design of Mount Vernon will spiff up the tree-shaded area near the dorm’s outdoor deck.

The conclusion of the 96 Campus Avenue project will also conclude, for now, the presence on campus of Consigli, whose representatives have been at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ overseeing major construction at least as far back as 2006 — and more or less continuously since 2018 and the start of the Bonney Science Center.

Finally, Lanoie pointed out that he and Chris Streifel, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ director of capital planning and construction (and for years our guide through a number of big projects) have been working on a “Day 2 list” — possible upgrades to 96 Campus Avenue that have emerged in the course of the renovation just ending.

For example, an aging section of roof near the building’s new entrance should be replaced, as should the door to the building’s former main entrance. Putting a single metal door there in place of the current pair of glass doors would send a clear message that the main entrance is elsewhere (in fact, relocated to a former service area in an annex facing the main campus).

“We’ll see if we can afford to do those based on what our contingency (fund) looks like at the end of the job,” Lanoie said. “And then we’ll prioritize that list and we’ll try to focus on them, maybe during a holiday break, and see what we can get done.” (Campus Construction Update’s equivalent list at home is called the “2020 2023 2030 List.”)

They left us with crumbs: By the time you read this (or at least skim it in search of wacky humor), a substantial portion of the Russell Street soccer field will be green. In the first phase of installing a new FieldTurf playing surface, workers for the turf manufacturer began rolling out long strips of the plastic grass-like product early in the week.

Laying down the new FieldTurf surface at Russell Street Field on Aug. 27, 2024. Most of the turf sections weigh 1,269 pounds and are 15 feet wide and 183 feet long. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Workers are installing a new FieldTurf surface at Russell Street Field on Aug. 27, 2024. Note the gravel subgrade in the foreground and the freshly laid turf in back. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The layers of FieldTurf are placed grassy side to grassy side to be stitched together. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Artificial grass is woven into a heavy fabric matrix to form the basis of the new FieldTurf playing surface at Russell Street Field. Sand and crumb-rubber infill will support the grass and impart desirable playing qualities to the field. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Dan Gleason, FieldTurf site supervisor, uses a handheld sewing machine to stitch together sections of the new Russell Street Field playing surface. One worker precedes Gleason, blowing compressed air to clear debris. Others simply support the heavy turf using grippers like the one at left. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A close look at the crumb-rubber and sand infill that will be spread over the new FieldTurf playing surface. (Jay Burns/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

As workers used specialized machinery to unspool the turf onto the subgrade, that process was heavy and mechanical. But as other workers adjusted the seams and sewed the strips together, it was also precise and hands-on.

Each strip of turf is 15 feet wide, 183 feet long, and, not surprisingly, heavy — nearly 1,300 pounds. What was surprising is how fast a team of workers, half-a-dozen or so, could fasten the seam between two strips. For that process, the strips were arranged face to face — grassy side to grassy side.

Several members of the team used tong-like grippers to raise the strips, align them, clamp them together for stitching, and set them down again. In the middle of the group, one worker blew debris out of the seam with a jet of compressed air and another, FieldTurf site supervisor Dan Gleason, used a handheld electric sewing machine to stitch the seam.

As he moved along, the strip wranglers on the loose side got out of his way and crossed behind him to handle the stitched area.

By mid-afternoon Tuesday, Farnsworth noted, about three-quarters of the turf was in place. But it will take much longer, probably a couple of weeks, for the next phase of the job: working infill into the turf. That infill, reclaimed from prior turf surfaces elsewhere, comprises a mix of sand and rubber crumbs. After they use up the reclaimed material, “they will finish off the top of the field with new rubber pellets.”

The infill provides shock absorption, structural stability, and, by holding the grass blades upright, an aesthetic benefit.

And the handwork will return later with the quasi-surgical activity of excising bits of turf so that sport-specific lines (such as the penalty area in soccer or goalie crease in lacrosse) and ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝-branding visuals can be stitched into the openings.

The infill has provided an additional aesthetic treat, too, but it’s temporary. Rubber crumbs started arriving last week, creating a spectacle at the Russell Street parking lot: a reef of fabric bags seeming to stretch from horizon to horizon, all filled with rubber crumbs (putting us in mind of the Three Stooges’ ditty, “She was bred in old Kentucky, but she’s just a crumb up here”). 

The crumbs are created by freezing and shattering worn-out (or you might say, retired) tires.

The Russell Street Field revamp also includes new field lights, and the bases for those, made of precast concrete, are in place. A crane will visit the field Sept. 5–6 to erect the poles and place the lamp arrays, which should be fun to watch.

Paul Farnsworth, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager for the field makeover, explains that the lights are activated for games by a central computer system. That system is a proprietary service provided by the lighting manufacturer, MUSCO, of Oskaloosa, Iowa. (ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ is a longtime MUSCO customer.)

Clients log in and indicate when the lights should shine, and the computer makes it happen wirelessly. The only wired connection is for the raw electricity feeding the lamps. (This makes more sense than what we had pictured: someone running around at game time to switch on each of the four field lights by pulling a very, very long chain.)

Finally, changes are coming to the Russell Street facilities for softball and for throwing events. New batting cages, one for visiting teams and one for the Bobcats, are being built.

Also under construction are a throwing cage for discus and hammer, and a javelin runway. The latter, Farnsworth explains, is needed because the old one is too close to the soccer field — “we can’t throw javelins into our new turf.” (The old runway will remain, but for use only with rubber-tipped javelins.)

These features are going into a grassy patch between the softball outfield and St. Mary’s Health System property. ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ Ultimate teams and other sports have used that area in the past, and they’ll have more options with the new Field Turf.Ěý

Can we talk? Send your thoughts about past, present, future, and parallel-universe ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ construction projects to Doug Hubley. Please put “Construction Update” or “Was Shemp ever funny at all?” in the subject line.

Doug Hubley is a writer and musician living in Portland, Maine.

Others may look ahead to summertime eagerly anticipating beach trips, camping, cookouts, etc., but for Campus Construction Update, summer means just one thing: facility projects at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝.

Here’s how the summer went down, CCU-style:

	Campus Construction Update: Aug. 8, 2024 Russell Street Field begins its transition from grass to multipurpose turf, our newest residence at 96 Campus Avenue, gets on the de-fence, and the long-awaited new bell striker arrives in the Hathorn Hall bellfry.
	Campus Construction Update: July 10, 2024 ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ recent architectural adventures — new Bonney Science Center and renovated Chase and Dana halls — have emphasized bringing daylight indoors. The work at 96 Campus Avenue continues the theme.
	Campus Construction Update: June 7, 2024 As always, this summer’s facility initiatives comprise a nice variety: new kilns for the Olin Arts Center, specialized labs for new faculty, and two biggies, conversion of the former convent at 96 Campus Avenue into a residence and the transformation of Russell Street Field from a soccer pitch into a multipurpose field available for all active Bobcats.

Begun last year, a facilities project with a powerful resonance for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ people — a resonance both historic and literal — was completed last week.

Since July 30, a new mechanism has been tolling the noon hour every day on the venerable Hathorn Hall bell. The new striker whacks the outside of the 167-year-old bell, in contrast to the old-school electric mechanism it replaced, which sounded the bell by swinging it so that a clapper would strike the inside. (Still earlier, students were hired to live in Hathorn and ring the bell.)

The road to the replacement was long, involving considerable work to improve access to and conditions within Hathorn’s attic and belfry. (And replacement of HVAC machinery in the attic coincided with the bell work.) The last steps needed in the run-up to the striker, says Alan Kelley, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ manager of mechanical and electrical services, promoted “safe access to the actual bell” — improvements to the belfry ladders and creation of a tie-off point for fall protection.

The striker was fabricated by Elderhorst Bells of Palm, Pa. ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ electricians installed it, with assistance from clock expert Peter Rioux of Winterport, Maine. Rioux, says Kelley, helped position “the new striker and set up the new bell controller.” (The striker controls are located elsewhere in Hathorn.)

Kelley adds that a smartphone app will eventually become an additional means of operating the bell. “Information and Library Services is figuring out the needed network configuration and level of security for this feature. We’re also purchasing a remote control that can be used to manually control the bell for special occasions.”

Don’t fence us out: Walking up Campus Avenue last week, we were pleased to see the latest addition to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ fleet of student residences — literally pleased to see it, because the fence that had largely hidden construction activities at 96 Campus Avenue from passers-by was gone.

Built as a Sisters of Charity convent in 1977 and later given over to offices, 96 Campus Avenue has spent much of 2024 becoming ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ newest student residence. The fence that wasn’t there last week is just one of several outward signs that the building’s transformation is near its end.

What else? There are many fewer people at work there (and therefore fewer vehicles). The parking lot has been paved and striped and its signage installed.

The installation of new windows and other glasswork, which has been the project team’s top priority for the last few weeks, is all but done. All the metal-and-glass “storefront” units are in place, but window trim is still being fitted and painted, and seams being caulked, both inside and out. 

Perhaps the most important markers of progress, though, aren’t obvious: A formal inspection by the city of Lewiston scheduled for Aug. 9 is expected to lead to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ certificate of occupancy, allowing the college to start using the building. “The big push (these days) is to get ready for that,” ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager Brian Lanoie told us during our July 30 visit.

In a month this newly refurbished third-floor corridor in 96 Campus Avenue will be busy with student residents. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Used at 96 Campus Avenue for window trim and other purposes, Azek is a manufactured building material. The brand name is printed on a protective film that will be peeled off prior to painting. The trees are part of the view from the eastern side of the building. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

New washers for student use at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The mechanical room at 96 Campus Avenue. From left, features include sanitary discharge, water intakes for fire suppression and domestic water, and two gray heaters for domestic hot water. The wheeled contraption is used for bending electrical conduits. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A splash of daylight on new carpeting in a second-floor seating area at 96 Campus Avenue. The blue material will be rolled out to protect the new carpet from incidental damage. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Around the same time, in a similar vein, the company that has managed the project for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ will return formal control of 96 Campus Avenue to the college. In a contractual action known as “substantial completion,” this is when ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ and Consigli Construction, which has partnered with the college on major construction projects dating back at least to 2006, mutually declare that the building is ready for its intended use.

As Campus Construction Update likes to remind you, since we are continually rediscovering it ourselves, things lead to other things. In the category of formal inspections, for instance, Lanoie noted that city approval of all the above-ceiling electrical work was attained on July 29. (Not to be confused with “the above ceiling electrical work,” as we hadn’t mentioned any yet.)

That gave the ceiling installers the green light to install the rest of the drop-ceiling tiles on the first floor, a process known in the trade as “flooding.” (This strikes us as a much neater way to flood a ceiling than some we have tried. But we won’t comment on the logic of calling something “drop” that is placed above one’s head. Unless you have flooded the ceiling with water, in which case it could also be called a “drip ceiling.”)

Meanwhile, punch-listing is well underway. Not to be mistaken for a key step in summer-party planning, this is a conclusive round of detailed construction inspections and consequent repairs. Engineers from the firm that designed the 96 Campus Avenue conversion, Lavallee | Brensinger Architects, began that process in mid-July.

Also in train is commissioning, the protocol of testing and adjusting major systems such as HVAC and domestic water heating. Like punch-listing, commissioning starts late in a construction project, but differs in that it can stretch out into months. That’s because demands on machinery change as the seasons change. 

On top of all that, beds and mattresses arrived and were installed on Aug. 5, and all of the lounge furniture two days later. New England Woodcraft of Forest Dale, Vt., is providing student-room furniture aside from mattresses, which come from Bourdon’s Institutional Sales of Claremont, N.H. Based in Portland, Creative Office Resources is outfitting the lounge areas at 96 Campus Avenue.

Lanoie explained during our tour that ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Residence Life staff and the project architects took the lead in selecting styles and colors for the new furniture. “We typically give the design team as much creativity as they want,” Lanoie said — but he and Res Life folks also examined furnishings already in use around campus, as well as visiting the Creative Office Resources showroom. 

“You’ll see some pieces that are similar to what you see in other ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ residence halls,” he said. “Certainly the fabrics will be different, more in line with the color scheme of the building.”

Finally, Lanoie informed us that Facility Services tradespeople have started training on technical systems at the new dorm — so-called owner training. Training on mechanical and sprinkler systems took place in mid-July and plumbing training at the beginning of this month.

“So that’s good. That’s a sign that we’re getting close” to completion, Lanoie said.

He added, “The ping-pong table arrives on Aug. 8.”

Get the LED in: When we swung by Russell Street Field on July 30, a few workers and fewer machines were tending to the subgrade recently placed in the oval expanse inside the track. The team from Shaw Brothers, a prominent earthworks firm based in Gorham, Maine, were finalizing the depth, contours, and other details of the gray crushed stone that constitutes the subgrade.

All this was in preparation for installation of a new synthetic playing surface, a composition of plastic grass, sand, and rubber crumbs that will replace the living grass that had failed to thrive there after its placement in 2019. That replacement will not only provide a durable surface but also vastly expand the field’s availability and its use beyond soccer.

But the CORE field turf, a product line manufactured in Georgia by the field turf manufacturer FieldTurf, won’t appear quite yet. This week a concrete curb is being poured around the outside of the oval. Strips of wood, so-called nailers, will be attached to this curb, and the turf will be nailed to the nailers. (The circularity, or perhaps ovality, of this description boggles the mind.)

The nails attaching the turf will be stainless steel and there will be about 1,320 of them, driven around the field’s quarter-mile circumference at the rate of one per foot, says Paul Farnsworth, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager for the project. 

Men and machines prepare the crushed-stone subgrade at Russell Street Field. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A Shaw Bros. team works on the crushed stone subgrade at Russell Street Field in preparation for the placement of artificial turf. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

An excavator loads dirt and sod into a dump truck for disposal at Russell Street Field as the replacement of natural grass with artificial turf gets underway on July 15. Some of the dirt will be sifted and reused in landscaping elsewhere on the site. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

On July 15, a Shaw Bros. excavator scrapes up the natural turf laid at Russell Street Field back in 2019. A manufactured surface will replace the grass. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The yellow gizmos topping the masts on this Shaw Bros. bulldozer are transceivers for the GPS system that guides the operator at Russell Street Field. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Shown in mid-July, this wood-and-steel ramp enabled heavy equipment to cross into the Russell Street Field work zone without damaging the track surface, which is just a couple years old. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

After the curb and nailers are in place, some minor electrical work will have to be done, Farnsworth added. “And then it’s a last check on the grading before they call in the turf field people.”

Those people are scheduled to get to work during the last week of August.

In the meantime, though, installation of new field lights has begun. This week foundation holes for two of the four Musco-brand lights were dug on the bleachers side of the field. The foundations, 8-foot-long precast concrete tubes, will be planted next, followed by the setting-up of poles and lights. Two more lights will be installed on the Russell Street side. 

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ has been using Musco lights for years, with arrays around Garcelon and Campus Avenue fields. But the new lights will be LED, as opposed to the metal halide lamps in use at Garcelon and Campus Avenue. (Metal halide lamps, like the more familiar mercury vapor units, use high-intensity gas discharge technology. Metal halide units are long-lasting and at least 10 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, but LED still beats ’em both.) 

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, reminiscences, and inflammatory speculation about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “What kind of punch tastes good with a knuckle sandwich?” in the subject line.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ recent architectural adventures, as regular readers of Campus Construction Update know, have emphasized bringing daylight indoors.

We’ve seen it in new construction, such as the Bonney Science Center with its two-story glass-walled Beacon and ample expanses of interior glass. Perhaps more dramatically, we’ve also seen it in the renovation of such venerable structures as Dana and Chase halls, where creative design and lots of glass have brought long views and bright sun to formerly dim and cramped interiors.

The renovation of 96 Campus Avenue that began last winter extends that theme. Sited just beyond Campus Avenue Field, the building was constructed 47 years ago as a convent. Faith may have been strong, but it wasn’t enough to infuse with grace the structure�s drab institutional aesthetic. Among other characteristics, that style was manifested in a significant number of fairly small windows.

But now, as part of the building’s transformation into a student residence, the installation of new windows has begun, including quite a few that will let the sunshine into once-gloomy spaces.  

“We call them storefront windows,” said Brian Lanoie, the Facility Services project manager overseeing the renovation, during a tour last week. That type of window has a metal frame (black aluminum in this case) designed for minimal interference with incoming light and exterior sightlines.

96 Campus Avenue, whose conversion into a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ student residence will be effectively complete in less than two months, looms above the construction site fence and a new sidewalk along the Facility Services access road. Note the new window unit — one of many to be installed – just above center. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The first of two coats of asphalt on this new sidewalk alongside 96 Campus Avenue was placed on July 1. The topcoat isn’t due till late in the building’s renovation. This walk connects to a major east-west walkway at the left end of Alumni Gym, at rear. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Here’s the northern end of the new footpath linking the new student residence at 96 Campus Avenue to a major east-west campus walk, barely visible at center. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Still occupying the pallet they came in on, new cabinets await installation at 96 Campus Avenue by subcontractor Windham Millwork. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

This excavation at the 96 Campus Avenue parking lot entrance will be landscaped into a swale for handling storm runoff — as evidenced by the drain at left. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Consigli communications and the business end of an excavator at 96 Campus Avenue, seen from the street. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

An excavator and dump truck are removing a driveway that’s no longer needed in front of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A third-floor hallway at 96 Campus Avenue. Note the new paint and, at rear, the new window, which is called storefront glass. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

When we visited, most of the new window units hadn’t shown up yet, and tired old plastic sheets were still covering the openings. Just a few of the new units were in place, on the second and third floors. Even in limited number, though, their effect was striking. 

And a full-court press of window installation began this week. “Windows are the hottest item right now,” Lanoie said. “They’re doing all that they can to prep (window openings) so that when the windows do arrive, they can slap them in.

“I feel as if other trades are in pretty good shape. All the other components are here or they’re in the vendors’ hands, ready to be installed.” Along with the windows, the project is now a race to close up other exterior openings, such as doors, and to complete wall, floor, and ceiling finishes.

All that needs to be done by Aug. 5, when the delivery of furniture is scheduled to begin. So,  Lanoie said, “we’ve got a month to go and still a decent amount of work left to be done.”

Other August milestones will include a city inspection pursuant to bestowing the certificate of occupancy, giving ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ legal permission to use the space; and the attainment of “substantial completion,” a contractual point at which Consigli Construction, the firm managing the renovation, hands the building back over to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ (although the firm will remain involved with the project for some time thereafter).

Lanoie noted that major utilities work is well along. The connection supplying natural gas for heating domestic water has been made, though the meter hasn’t been installed yet. The duct work linking two new rooftop air handlers to the building HVAC system is complete, and the firm Cornerstone Commissioning, charged with testing the building’s systems, has begun inspecting that installation. 

Three additional HVAC machines on the first floor are installed and hookup is all but done.

Third-floor finishes were looking quite finished when we strolled through. The textured blue plastic membrane that protects new carpets and floor tiles from damage covered the floors. In addition to flooring and paint, most fixtures had been fitted and ceramic tiles placed in the bathrooms, and permanent lighting units were clinging to the ceilings.

As we’ve mentioned previously, much of the same work is happening on the second floor as the third but, by design, it’s not quite as far along. Another difference between the third and second floors is that the latter incorporates a collection of single and double student rooms configured from what had been the convent’s two-story chapel.

Those rooms are now sufficiently complete that their floor plans, height — 12-foot ceilings — and sizable windows can be appreciated. Very appealing.

In a slight change in the project’s scope, each of those floors will also boast a small room designated as a non-denominational space for prayer and meditation — a type of facility ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students have increasingly been requesting, said Lanoie.

Meanwhile, the layout of the first floor has become much more comprehensible, with most new walls in place and much less visual confusion from tools, coils of cable, and stacks of building supplies. (Although we were happy to gawk at a big pile of nice new cabinetry out on the building’s patio awaiting the attention of carpenters from Windham Millwork.) 

The first floor is dominated at the street end by a corridor of student rooms, and at the far end by two major features: the two-bedroom apartment for the residence director and family, and a large student lounge that will offer cooking facilities and two giant windows affording northerly views of woods and Merrill Gym.

Speaking of which, the sections of new walkway that will lead from 96 Campus toward Merrill Gym and thence the rest of campus are partially complete and fully functional. The first of two layers of asphalt was placed last week, with the top coat slated for late in the project.  

And there’s a little more landscaping worth a mention. When we showed up at 96 Campus Avenue for our tour, an excavator was clawing away at the open space between building and street. The machine, Lanoie explained, was removing a concrete driveway that used to serve the front entrance — originally the main entrance.

Because the main entrance henceforth will be on the side of the building facing John Bertram Hall and the rest of campus (facing west instead of south, in other words), project planners wanted to remove features from the south side that say “main entrance.” So grass will be planted where the concrete drive had been. “We’re going to make it a green space,” Lanoie said. ”We don’t want it to feel like a main entrance.”

All of which puts us in mind of a lyric by the punk band X: “Put the doorknob on my side.”

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes your questions, comments, and reminiscences about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. Putting “Campus Construction” or “Did they row boats with auras on the Eerie Canal?” in the subject line, please contact Doug Hubley at dhubley@bates.edu.

Doug Hubley is a writer and musician living in Portland, Maine.

Others may be eagerly anticipating beach trips, camping, cookouts, etc., but for Campus Construction Update summer means one thing and one thing only: facility projects at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝.

As always, this year’s summer initiatives comprise a nice variety. Academic projects include new kilns for the Olin Arts Center and the creation of specialized labs for new faculty (including facilities for sleep research and for analyzing interactions between sunlight and atmospheric pollutants).

As it has been all year, though, the biggest construction news might be the conversion of the former Sisters of Charity convent at 96 Campus Avenue into the college’s newest student residence. Scheduled to open in time for the forthcoming academic year, that project will stay on our radar all summer long.

In this edition of CCU we’ll also describe a quick project at Lindholm House, a campus landmark and home of the Admission office. And we’ll tell you about yet another upgrade at the Russell Street Field, a facility that has gotten quite a lot of love in recent years.

Get out: Last month we explained how the work at 96 Campus Avenue has expanded to the building’s exterior and surroundings. That trend has intensified. 

On May 10, the riggers of Cote Corp. brought a crane over from Auburn to hoist two new air handlers, specifically known as energy-recovery ventilators, to the roof. (They also wrangled into the basement two gas-fired boilers that will provide hot water for things like showers, ramen noodles and Swiss Miss hot chocolate, and laundry.) 

Seen from the bleachers at John Bertram Hall, a new HVAC machine on the roof of 96 Campus Avenue is visible to the right of center. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Pavers’ tools at the ready at 96 Campus Avenue on May 28. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Inside the 96 Campus Avenue construction site fence, a truck dumps asphalt as a paving crew tops the parking lot. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Shown is part of a future route for a walkway connecting the new 96 Campus Avenue dorm (out of view up the road) to the center of campus. Where the vehicles are now parked, a sidewalk will run from the dorm to a point facing the orange cones. The cones show where a painted lane will lead to an existing path past Merrill Gym intersects with a main east-west footpath. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The path at center will be connected to a new walkway leading to 96 Campus Avenue, which is behind the camera. The Bobcat sculpture appears in the background. (The statue was moved to Garcelon Field in 2025.) (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A couple weeks later, we visited just in time to witness the start of paving as the site-work experts of Lewiston firm St. Laurent & Son laid a binder coat of asphalt on the reconfigured parking lot.

Thinking about chains of causality can bend your mind, as we have reason to know. That paving job is a good example. From now until the second and final coat of asphalt is laid, late in the project, tradespeople on the job at 96 Campus Avenue can park in the newly paved lot instead of along the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ service road adjacent to it.

That will clear the way for the construction of a new sidewalk along the service road that will link No. 96 to campus, via the walkway that passes Merrill Gym. A gravel roadbed for the sidewalk’s asphalt has already been prepared.

In early May, prior to paving, new underground connections for local utilities were run through the parking lot. The business of tying those utilities — fresh water, gas for the water heaters, stormwater and sanitary discharge — into building systems has been going on ever since.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Project Manager Brian Lanoie took us to the basement to see the massive pipe-and-valve assemblages where the incoming and outbound water connections have been made but not yet opened. The new gas line was missing, waiting for Unitil to install its meter outside the foundation. Lanoie added, “There are still some wires that need to be pulled for power, but the (electrical) infrastructure is all in place.”

We spotted the new water heaters and, nearby, a concrete pad just poured for their permanent location. Lanoie also pointed out that the mechanical area in the basement had been reconfigured since our last visit. A wall was removed and will be rebuilt so as to enlarge the mechanical space and shrink an adjacent storage room.

With the building’s electrical lockers lining an entire end wall, the change in floor plan was necessitated by the building code, which specifies a distance between a water intake and the electrical service greater than what was called for when 96 Campus Avenue was built, nearly a half-century ago.

Ultimately, though the mechanical area is the focus of basement work, the whole level will be cleaned and repainted, and some damaged wallboard replaced, before the renovation is done.

Progress on the first floor since our last visit was conspicuous. Notably, expanses of wallboard have been hung, largely at the north end of the building (farthest from Campus Avenue), where the residence director’s apartment and the building-wide student lounge will be located. It’s amazing the difference that walls make to how we perceive a given amount of space.

Where MEP on the first floor is more about bringing utility feeds to new destinations and then roughing them into walls, upstairs the focus is more on terminal installations — lights and light switches, sinks and toilets, etc. Plenty of those fittings are in place on the third and uppermost level, and they’re appearing one floor down, too.

Tile installation in a 96 Campus Avenue restroom. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A future student room on the second floor, this space is serving as a work area for Windham Millwork. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Doorframes, like these shown at the entrances to second-floor student rooms, are being fitted throughout 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

An electrician has stepped away partway through installing an outlet in a dorm room at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The trim strip separates two styles of new flooring in 96 Campus Avenue: tiling for a bathroom, at right, and a wood-grain product for general use (both installed and awaiting installation) at left. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Installation of fixtures in third-floor restrooms is underway. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A newly installed shelf in a student room on the third floor of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Wallboard is in place in the student laundry room at 96 Campus Avenue, located on the second floor. The cutouts at lower left are for plumbing and electrical fittings. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Most third-floor walls have been painted with primer, many doorframes are hung, and millwork, such as wooden shelves, is being added to student rooms. New flooring is going down — a simulated wood-grain product in bedrooms and hallways, tiles in the restrooms.

As noted, these same processes are happening on the second floor, too, just a little bit behind the third. The big news on the second floor is the dramatic change to what was originally built as the convent’s chapel — now divided into student rooms with remarkably high ceilings. 

Overall, the transformation of 96 Campus Avenue is “still tracking on schedule and on budget,” Lanoie said. “We’ve been blessed in a few different ways with the project, and some of the changes that have occurred all went the right way.”

Trenching afoot: The home of the Admission staff, Lindholm House underwent improvements to its foundation in May. Prompted by persistent water leakage into the basement, the project entailed excavation around the building, creation of new drainage infrastructure, and exterior application of a waterproofing membrane. Amos Development of Greene was the contractor.

In the process, Lindholm got a new set of front steps through the efforts of Randall Swan, a local builder who has done work for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ since the early 2000s. He fashioned the steps from Trex and AZEK, wood substitutes made from recycled materials. The front walk was replaced this week and new plantings, selected with guidance from Admission staff, will appear before too long.

Grassroots campaign: It’s turf’s up! for Russell Street Field, the venue for Bobcat track and field and one of two home pitches used by the varsity soccer teams.

In a makeover expected to begin any day now, the facility will receive a new scoreboard, energy-saving field lights, and an artificial playing surface to replace the living grass inside the track. 

When complete, the field will join Garcelon Field as a multipurpose turf field available to students for more hours each day, more days each year, and for more sporting and recreational activities.

Field turf manufacturer FieldTurf (talk about no-nonsense marketing!), whose products have been used at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ previously, is supplying the new surface. Called CORE, the product is described by the manufacturer as the first-ever multi-layer dual-polymer fiber. (Apparently they’ve overlooked some leisure suits we got at Jordan Marsh in the 1970s.)

The turf will replace all the grass inside the track, about two acres’ worth. Typical of such surfaces, it’s composed of simulated grass blades infilled with layers of sand and two grades of rubber crumbs. This infill provides cushioning and stability. The crumbs are made by shattering deep-frozen vehicle tires. 

The grass is only 5 years old, but between heavy use and the summertime thrill ride of alternating droughts and deluges, upkeep has been challenging. Moreover, the new surface will make the field not only more durable, but more versatile. For example, its markings can be switched out to accommodate other sports, such as rugby.

A major Maine contractor is handling the project: Shaw Brothers Construction of Gorham. “They’ve done quite a few fields,” says Paul Farnsworth, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager for Russell Street Field.

“They’ll dig out the existing grass and underlayers, and then build it up with select gradations of fill.” The overall carpet of FieldTurf will be attached to pressure-treated wood laid underneath, as well as to a concrete band that will be carved from a retaining wall around the inner circumference of the track.

The track surface, by the way, was replaced in 2022. “We’re taking extraordinary measures to protect the track” from damage caused by heavy-equipment crossings, says Farnsworth, describing a sort of Dagwood sandwich of steel plates, landscape fabric, sand, and articulated wooden mats. 

This all promises to reward the observation of Shaw Bros.’ progress at the field. But Farnsworth says that passers-by will also notice the big holes being dug around the site as footings are placed for the new field lights. These tall appliances will be manufactured by Musco Sports Lighting, which in 2010 also supplied the lights for the Garcelon Field makeover. But the Russell Street units will be electron-sipping LED lights. 

The new scoreboard, meanwhile, will be capable of displaying not only scores but pre-programmed images and text, such as player portraits and their stats. Finally, Farnsworth notes, the javelin-throwing runway will be moved to a location behind the softball field.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes your questions, comments, and reminiscences about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. Putting “Campus Construction” or “Do you wear the chains of causality you forged in life?” in the subject line, please contact Doug Hubley at dhubley@bates.edu.

Doug Hubley is a writer and musician living in Portland, Maine.

Now at the halfway mark, the conversion of a former convent into a new residence for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students is on schedule and within budget.

Most of the renovation action at 96 Campus Avenue is out of sight inside the building, but even so, the view from the street tells you more about the initiative’s progress nowadays than it would have a month ago.

For example, a certain blankness to the facade (similar to our first glance in the mirror each morning) indicates that most of the window units original to the 46-year-old building have been replaced with white plastic sheeting. Those plastic coverings, in turn, will be replaced by new permanent units by June.

You’ll also see earth-moving equipment that wasn’t there before. At ground level, the entrance drive and parking lot have been stripped down to dirt and a shallow trench gouged out along the left-hand side, near a road used by Facility Services.

Once it’s been deepened to about 4 feet, the trench will be used to run new connections for water, storm drainage, and gas up to the building. The water pipe was slated for placement this week, and the gas and storm drainage next week.

Last week, meanwhile, a new sewer pipe was also installed. But that pipe follows the same course as the original line, 12 feet under.

Brian Lanoie, the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager in charge of the 96 Campus Avenue makeover, explained that the sewer replacement was achieved through a practice called “pipe-bursting.” You may think you know all about this technique from the episode when, in the innocence of youth, you flushed three bath towels down the toilet, but in fact the professionals’ method is a bit more sophisticated.

Consigli Construction has managed several major building projects at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, including the conversion of 96 Campus Avenue, at right behind the site fence, into student housing. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

The rooms lining this third-floor corridor at 96 Campus Avenue were once home to nuns belonging to the SIsters of Charity order. By fall, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students will be residing in them. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Pavement has been removed from the 96 Campus Avenue parking lot in preparation for utilities work and then a reconfiguring of the lot and surroundings. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Cement board lines the walls in a newly constructed third-floor restroom at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Tools, including a pair of drywall stilts, and supplies await the return of the person who’s applying joint compound in the student bedrooms being built in the former chapel at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

As part of the 96 Campus Avenue renovation, the former loading bay is being transformed into the building’s main entrance. The new metal structure at bottom will support a raised flooring section incorporating an ADA-compliant ramp. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

In-wall utilities are all but complete in the student laundry room at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

This student bedroom on the third floor of 96 Campus Avenue catches early-morning sun. On the pallet are tiles for the new restrooms. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

In pipe-bursting, a so-called bullet is pulled by a cable through the old pipe (in this case, made of PVC). The bullet’s diameter exceeds the pipe’s, so it fractures the pipe, making way for the replacement, which is drawn along behind the bullet. Ergo, only one pass is needed to dispose of the old pipe and put the new in place — and all without needing to dig a trench along the whole pipe run (although small digs are needed to situate the replacement pipe and bullet for installation). 

In the case of the 96 Campus Avenue line, there was an especially good reason to avoid a deep trench: an electrical transformer on the ground near the sewer path. “The problem is that (the path) crosses the high-voltage lines that feed the transformer as well as other utilities under here,” Lanoie said.

“They didn’t want to risk compromising any of those utilities. One of the options that we talked about was relining the pipe already in place, but we decided that we really would rather have it replaced if at all possible.”

Something else that needs to happen before the parking lot and other hardscaping can be completed is the placement of large HVAC machines on the building’s roof. A crane and crew from a familiar source, Cote Corp. of Auburn, will do the heavy lifting, scheduled for May 10.

Cote will need to deliver the equipment before the parking lot is paved, as their heavy equipment could damage new asphalt.

The two rooftop machines, as well as some water heaters that are bound for the basement, have been in Cote’s hands for a while, says Lanoie. This has been a comfort in light of other projects — not just at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ — that have been deranged because the delivery of crucial components was stalled by kinks in the supply chain.

Inside the building, the third and topmost level is the furthest along. In fact, with wall-boarding all but complete, painters have begun priming many of the residential rooms. At the same time, workers for the Paul White Co. of Portland are in the shower rooms waterproofing subfloors prior to tiling and installing the shower-stall bases, aka pans.

In the race among the floor levels toward completion, the second floor is still in second place. That’s by design, but it’s also true that the objectives on that level are more complex. The laundry room for student use is on that floor, necessitating a certain density of electrical and plumbing connections. (The apartment for the residence director, one story down, will have its own laundry facilities.)

The second level, too, was the location of the chapel used by the nuns of the Sisters of Charity order who were the building’s original occupants. Drywall installers have been busy subdividing that formerly open space into student quarters.

And what about the first floor? Simply because so many different building facilities and functions will be concentrated there, that level is the buzzingest part of the 96 Campus Avenue beehive. Lanoie told us that “every possible (building) trade is on site right now,” and there was evidence of nearly all of them on that one floor.

At one point, with designated walkways occupied by people doing actual work, we found ourselves twisting and turning cautiously through gaps in the metal wall framing to get where we were going. This was in a section of the first level, toward the back of the building, that’s both where the residence director’s apartment is being built and where utility feeds are routed upstairs from the basement. 

The first floor is also the focus of project news. One new development is the decision, because of issues with the structural slab that supports much of the building, to build the custodial room on the first floor instead of the basement. “So now in the lower level, we have no program space at all. It’s a lot of spare rooms that will be used for something in the future, but really it’ll just be maintenance folks that will need to go down there.”

Finally, a way was found to add another single room to the first-floor layout near the Campus Avenue end of the building. That will raise the total capacity of the finished residence to 65 beds. 

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes your questions and comments about current, past, prospective, and unlikely construction projects at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. With “Campus Construction” or “Is that what they call throwing in the towel?“ in the subject line, please send your thoughts to dhubley@bates.edu.

Doug Hubley is a writer and musician living in Portland, Maine.

With the demolition phase finished more than a month ago, the ongoing work to convert 96 Campus Avenue to student housing is all about creation and renewal. This not only makes for nicer construction photos (we can only hope), but is more spiritually nourishing, as befits a project involving a former convent.

There have been a few changes in the scope of the project since we last visited the three-story building at the far side of the Campus Avenue Field. The biggest news is the decision to replace all the window units, which are original to the 1977 structure. This makes sense in terms of both tightening up the building envelope and consolidating construction activities at the site. 

When the 96 Campus Avenue makeover is complete, these north-facing windows will show Merrill Gym and its adjacent woods. This room will become a lounge in the new student residence. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

A three-quarter view of 96 Campus Avenue from the street. Concealed behind the construction site fence is the former main entrance. CCU was interested to see that in a first for a construction project at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, management firm Consigli Construction eschewed the forest green that was its longtime choice for fence fabric in favor of a red similar to its corporate color. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Field notes for the installation of a water-bottle filler. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

This first-floor space at the north end of 96 Campus Avenue is being redone as a building-wide student lounge. The second and third floors will also feature much smaller, more-casual seating areas. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Cables for data, electrical service, and other uses form a tangle near the ceiling on the first story of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Electronic components are just hanging out in a wall under construction on the first floor of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Shown with wall studs in place and connections for plumbing and electrical nearly complete, the student laundry room at 96 Campus Avenue will sport three each of washers and dryers. Its western view from the second floor will give students something to gaze at while the machines are spinning. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

At least one more data conduit will relieve the pressure on the jam-packed pair protruding from the basement ceiling. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

This view shows the northern end of 96 Campus Avenue, including the loading area that will be reconfigured into a new main entrance, at center. The “#LewistonStrong” banner was hung in a gesture of moral support after the shootings in Lewiston last October. (Doug Hubley/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

“The window decision was a major win for the project,” ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Project Manager Brian Lanoie explained during our March 18 visit. Consigli Construction, the company managing the project for the college, “was able to put that into their schedule, get that subcontractor under contract, and get the windows ordered.”

That subcontractor is the Lewiston firm Jr’s Glass and Windows — for you Dallas fans, that’s “Jr” as in “junior,” not “J.R.”

The other two changes in the overall plan both involve location-swapping, plumbing, and the first floor. One switcheroo involves the sites of the bathroom in the residence director’s apartment and a recycling room. The routing of primary electrical conduits from the basement would have conflicted with the bathroom plumbing, so those two facilities have changed places.

The second swap relates to the fact that the 96 Campus Avenue basement is only partial: Much of the building, instead, rests on a concrete slab on grade. That foot-deep slab is topped with a layer of gravel, and then there’s a 4-inch floor slab over that. This arrangement, especially the deep structural slab, would make the placement of plumbing impractical, necessitating the relocation of a restroom to a location TBA. 

In the meantime, as Lanoie explained, current construction priorities largely involve walls: framing them out, placing utility feeds like plumbing and electrical inside the frames, getting those feeds inspected by the city, and, finally, closing up the walls.

Following a standard practice for comprehensive construction projects, Consigli is emphasizing a top-down work flow — so the third and topmost floor is the furthest along. At the risk of oversimplifying (otherwise we’d never get anything written), the idea is for the construction team to work its way out of the building. This approach has many practical benefits, including a way forward in case there should be a serious snag in the project.

To meet its residential demand in 2024–25, Lanoie explained, the college needs to have floors two and three complete by the start of school. So planning for 96 Campus Avenue includes a way to house students in the building even while isolating them from continuing construction on the ground floor— should that drastic eventuality occur, which is highly unlikely.

Anyhoo, right now the goal is to have all the third-floor walls closed up by the end of the month. So on that floor we saw some newly enclosed walls, a lot of completed or in-progress MEP installations (mechanical, electrical, plumbing), and pretty much all of the metal wall studs that need to be there.

“The framers screamed through the building,” Lanoie said (giving our ears something to contemplate). “They were in and out very fast.” He estimated that wall framing throughout the building was 90 percent complete. Handling both the framing and the wallboarding is the firm H.J. Gleason of Oakland, Maine.

Wall painting on the third floor should be in progress by mid-April.

Not surprisingly, the second floor looked like the third but not as far along — and with a major distinction in the form of what started out as the Sisters of Charity convent’s chapel, a large space now being rapidly portioned into student singles and doubles.

The first floor remains in the deepest state of flux, thanks not only to its rank in the order of progress but to a floor plan substantially more complex than the upper stories’. In addition to student rooms, it will feature the residence director’s apartment and a large lounge equipped with a kitchenette. 

Looking beyond the push to install MEP and build walls, here are some other construction highlights at 96 Campus during the next month or so: 

• Metal stair railings, already evident in a few spots, will continue to replace the old blond-wood numbers;
• Sprinkler modifications will continue;
• The removal of window units will begin;
• HVAC mechanical equipment will be installed on the roof.

Lanoie mentioned that, even this early in the project, decisions are being made about furnishings for 96 Campus Avenue. (“It’s later than you think” is especially true in the construction game.) The Portland, Maine, office of the vendor, the regional company Creative Office Resources, hauled seating samples to the Moody Room, a conference room high atop Pettengill Hall, a few weeks ago for students and Residence Life staff to try out.

“We were able to narrow down options for lounge seating and soft seating, and the next step is to take the narrowed-down list and review those again.” He added that Creative Office Resources is “telling us that it’s a six- to eight-week lead time for the options that we are looking at, so we’re in good shape for that.”

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, and inflammatory speculation about construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “I know exactly how late it is” in the subject line.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ latest student residence will open in August in a former convent.

The three-story brick building at 96 Campus Ave., built in 1977 to house some 30 nuns in the Society of the Sisters of Charity order, will provide accessible accommodations for 64 ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students and a live-in ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ staff member. (The student bed count was increased to 65 during the spring. — Editor)

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ purchased the building from St. Mary’s Health System in 2021. Late last September the college decided to convert the structure, adjacent to Campus Avenue Field, from offices into a student residence. 

Designing the renovation “was probably the fastest project I’ve ever done,” says Sean Landry, head of the design team for the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project at . Landry, a managing principal, leads the higher-education studio at the firm, which has offices in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

“But it was good,” he says. “Everybody knew what we were up against, so it made us all really efficient in decision-making. We didn’t have time to really noodle on things too long. So we all came together…and came to conclusions pretty quick. It was a neat process in that regard.”

He notes that Lavallee | Brensinger was originally studying a renovation that would have continued the building’s role as office space. “But ultimately it came down to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ needing beds. That is their highest and biggest need, so we quickly pivoted to it being a residence hall.” 

In November, Landry and his team conducted workshops on campus, trying “to get through what the needs were.” By mid-December, the firm had provided permit drawings and construction documents that Consigli Construction, which is managing construction of the project for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, could put out for bid — “incredibly fast,” says Landry.

This is the first collaboration between ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ and Lavallee | Brensinger. has managed major construction projects for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ for years.

The new renovation will give ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ added flexibility in managing residential facilities and facilitate the ongoing process of modernizing the college’s housing stock. As Geoff Swift, vice president of finance and administration, stated in announcing the project, the renovation will “support the fluctuations we regularly experience in class size, and allow us to take existing residences out of service for needed repairs in future years.”

Given the building’s original purpose as a group residence, only a light renovation is needed — “light” compared to such recent campus construction projects as the construction of the Bonney Science Center and the makeovers of Chase and Dana halls, anyway.

“A lot of the bedrooms, we’re trying to change as little as we can,” Landry says. “The building itself has really good bones — a lot of concrete block, which is great for a dorm building. It’s not always the most attractive material, but it’s durable. So, generally speaking, the existing room setup works well.”

“The biggest change, I would say, was what we’re doing with the restrooms. We needed a lot more bathrooms and fixtures. And bringing it into today’s standards for a college student, we were able to make a lot of individualized restrooms for privacy.

“That was really important to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ and to us. That maybe was the biggest challenge, creating all new cores” — areas where plumbing and other utilities are concentrated — “in the building to accommodate individual restrooms and a lot more of them,” as well as showers.

Other major changes will include the remaking of a service entrance into a main entrance, installation of new utility connections and HVAC machinery, and the addition of lounges and dorm rooms for students, along with an apartment for a staff residence director.

“It needs to feel home-like, needs to feel welcoming, so those are things that we do” in designing student accommodations,” Landry continues. “We also want to build community, so community spaces are really important. A lot of your best relationships are made in a residence hall, so making those spaces special is something that we focus on.”

Of course, new finishes, fittings, and fixtures will prevail throughout the building. Exterior work will be confined to a few spots, including the new main entrance, but landscaping will include an updated parking lot and a new walkway to the relocated primary entrance.

Demolition has been underway all winter and was expected to wrap up by Feb. 16. 

Brian Lanoie, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ project manager, took us through the building last week. With the street-side entry temporarily closed, we walked in through the main-entrance-to-be — a brick annex, with person- and vehicle-sized doors, that had been a loading dock. Facing Campus Avenue Field and John Bertram Hall, this feature will be spiffed up with new doors, a lot of glass, some furnishings, and a ramp for accessibility. 

Undertaken by PBC Environmental of Kittery, Maine, demolition was nearing its conclusion when we walked through. But many walls were left intact. Instead, the ceilings showed the most evidence of PBC’s efforts, with tangles of cable and conduits drooping over the hallways and crumbled plaster from popcorn veneers awaiting someone with a broom.

With one major exception, the layouts of the second and third floors resemble each other, and the renovation won’t change that. Long residential corridors comprise most of that common footprint, and on each floor showers and restrooms will replace some individual rooms. Small common areas with comfy seating and monitors will go into the corridors at the ends farthest from the avenue. 

And what of that big disparity between the two floors that we mentioned above? On the second floor, nearest Campus Avenue, there’s a large, high, sunlit chamber that was once the convent’s chapel (complete with organ, according to a 1976 Lewiston Daily Sun article announcing plans for the convent). That lofty space will be partitioned into single and double student rooms whose lucky occupants will enjoy 12-foot ceilings.

The first floor will house the fewest students — 14, contrasted with 29 for the second floor and 21 for the third. But the first floor will also contain the apartment for a Residence Life and Health Education staff member, with two bedrooms, full kitchen, and laundry facilities. Adjacent to the resident staffer’s flat will be the dorm’s primary lounge, a generously sized area equipped with ping-pong table, soft seating, and kitchenette.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ used 96 Campus Ave. for isolation housing during COVID, and Student Affairs staff and student organizations later occupied the building while Chase Hall was closed for its 2022–2023 renovation.

And its pre-ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ history? The Sisters of Charity needed housing for the nuns who worked at St. Mary’s General Hospital and the affiliated Marcotte Nursing Home, thereby “continuing a mission of service (the order) began in 1878 in Lewiston,” according to a Sun Journal announcement of the current project.  

After the nuns moved out (when that took place is not clear), the hospital shifted other services to 96 Campus and also provided space there for the YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston’s Daisy Garden Childcare Center.

The March 1976 Lewiston Daily Sun article announcing plans for the convent offers more detail, reporting that sisters working at St. Mary’s and Marcotte were currently living either at the nursing home “or in a tiny rectory next to the proposed construction site.”

“Situated diagonally on the Campus Avenue lot, the (planned) 195-foot-long structure will be shaped roughly like a cross,” the newspaper reported. “The front wall will be accented by a stained-glass, cross-shaped window.“ (The horizontal bar on that original cross has been bricked in, leaving a skinny vertical window.) 

Sisters of Charity Regional Superior Sister Roseline Lessard told the Sun back then that the order, based in Canada and also known as the Grey Nuns, had “long planned to build a New England home for retired American nuns. The new facility will also house the order’s regional administration offices and a two-story chapel.”

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and aspirational construction at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Construction” or “Do movie theaters ever have popcorn ceilings?” in the subject line.