In case you believe that the primary role of a Facility Services project manager at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

This mix of surfaces is new to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ visitors even “rolled balls across the transition at Bridgton and found that it didn’t seem to make a difference,â€� 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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,â€� 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.â€�

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.â€� 

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,â€� 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.â€�

“If we don’t get it done before snow flies, that’s how it’s going to be when the season starts.â€� 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.Ìý 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ track and cross country coach Al Fereshetian, who died in June 2024.Ìý

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions and comments about construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Constructionâ€� 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Looking northwest across the newly resurfaced soccer field at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ Russell Street sports complex. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The brand-new FieldTurf playing surface for soccer and other sports at Russell Street Field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Site work is underway for a new javelin runway at this site east of the softball field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Testing the new Musco field lights at Russell Street Field on Sept. 18. (Paul Farnsworth/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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,â€� says Paul Farnsworth, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager for the field work. “We haven’t had any hiccups. Everyone showed up and did what they said they’d do.â€�

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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but 2024 is an exception. As the Russell Street Field work is wrapping up, general contractor Shaw Brothers and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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,â€� says Chris Streifel, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ director of capital planning and construction. Rainy weather leaves the “clay a soggy, sloppy, unplayable messâ€� that in extreme cases has caused games to be “canceled or relocated to fields at other institutions.â€�

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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Constructionâ€� or “Can’t you just boil the potatoes in mayonnaise?â€� in the subject line.

Begun last year, a facilities project with a powerful resonance for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ manager of mechanical and electrical services, promoted “safe access to the actual bellâ€� — 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. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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.â€� (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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ 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 “storefrontâ€� 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ certificate of occupancy, allowing the college to start using the building. “The big push (these days) is to get ready for that,â€� ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

New washers for student use at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Around the same time, in a similar vein, the company that has managed the project for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ will return formal control of 96 Campus Avenue to the college. In a contractual action known as “substantial completion,â€� this is when ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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,â€� 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ residence halls,â€� he said. “Certainly the fabrics will be different, more in line with the color scheme of the building.â€�

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, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager for the project. 

Men and machines prepare the crushed-stone subgrade at Russell Street Field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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. 

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Constructionâ€� or “What kind of punch tastes good with a knuckle sandwich?â€� in the subject line.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Still occupying the pallet they came in on, new cabinets await installation at 96 Campus Avenue by subcontractor Windham Millwork. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Consigli communications and the business end of an excavator at 96 Campus Avenue, seen from the street. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

An excavator and dump truck are removing a driveway that’s no longer needed in front of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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.â€� 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.â€�

Other August milestones will include a city inspection pursuant to bestowing the certificate of occupancy, giving ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ legal permission to use the space; and the attainment of “substantial completion,â€� a contractual point at which Consigli Construction, the firm managing the renovation, hands the building back over to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ (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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Putting “Campus Constructionâ€� or “Did they row boats with auras on the Eerie Canal?â€� in the subject line, please contact Doug Hubley at dhubley@bates.edu.

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