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.

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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Pavers’ tools at the ready at 96 Campus Avenue on May 28. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Inside the 96 Campus Avenue construction site fence, a truck dumps asphalt as a paving crew tops the parking lot. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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.â€�

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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A future student room on the second floor, this space is serving as a work area for Windham Millwork. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Doorframes, like these shown at the entrances to second-floor student rooms, are being fitted throughout 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

An electrician has stepped away partway through installing an outlet in a dorm room at 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Installation of fixtures in third-floor restrooms is underway. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A newly installed shelf in a student room on the third floor of 96 Campus Avenue. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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,â€� says Paul Farnsworth, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 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 trackâ€� 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 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Putting “Campus Constructionâ€� 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.

After more than a year of renovation that has redefined Dana Hall’s role in science education at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, the building formally reopened with a celebration on Aug. 29.

“It is kind of spectacular, the transformation that has been accomplished over a fairly brief time — it really is brief, when you consider the scope of the work,� Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, told the gathering.

That transformation rendered Dana’s interior infinitely more user-friendly, replacing a dim and labyrinthine interior with bright surfaces, long sightlines, and cheerful student spaces. And the project broadened Dana’s academic mission from a singular focus on chemistry to introductory chem and biology, with a side order of three active-learning classrooms suitable for any subject. 

Shear excitement: On the brink of the Aug. 29 ribbon-cutting that formally opened Dana Hall are, from left, Geoff Swift, vice president for finance and administration and treasurer; President Clayton Spencer; and Malcolm Hill, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A fume hood in a first-floor chemistry lab in Dana Hall stands next to a window revealing an associated classroom. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Chris Streifel, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Facility Services senior project manager who has overseen the renovation of Dana Hall and other high-profile construction projects in recent years, climbs a Dana stairway during the Aug. 29 reopening. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A corner office in Dana Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

President Clayton Spencer and Hoi Ning Ngai, associate director of the Center for Purposeful Work, pass a third-floor study room during the Aug. 29 reopening reception for Dana Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Dana Hall shown from Alumni Walk on Sept. 14, a week into the 2022–2023 academic year. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Both academically and socially, in other words, the renovated Dana is now a place for all ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students.

“That is all due to the hard work of many, including our design and construction partners and the brilliant ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ facilities team,â€� Hill told the Aug. 29 gathering. Like the rest of campus, Dana opened for the academic year the week of Labor Day.

Dana made his fortune in part through investing in the production of the universal joint — not a populist cannabis product.

Also speaking at the event, as well as joining Hill in a ritual ribbon-cutting, were ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Clayton Spencer and Geoff Swift, vice president for finance and administration and the college’s treasurer.

Spencer offered a concise history of Dana, which was dedicated in 1965 and named for lead donor Charles A. Dana, who was a kind of Johnny Appleseed of campus construction at a variety of schools. (We learned later that Dana made his fortune in part through investing in the production of the universal joint — not a populist cannabis product, but an industrially vital mechanical device often seen spinning underneath box trucks.)

Swift, meanwhile, thanked the many parties whose efforts made the Dana renovation a reality, including ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ capital projects staff, construction management company Consigli, the project designers of Boston architectural firm Payette, and many more.    

Thirty or 40 people attended the afternoon gathering, which began at Dana’s Alumni Walk entrance with a supply of Dining Services treats close by. Most of the scheduled two hours was allotted simply for folks to wander through the building. 

Many who were familiar with Dana were “kind of shocked,â€� in a good way, by the results of the makeover, says Chris Streifel, who has overseen the renovation as a senior project manager for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

“A large number of people had never been in Dana before, too, were just impressed with what they found, not even knowing what the transformation really meant. So I think that my biggest takeaway was just the gratification of [observing] people see what I have seen, which is a much different building now, and for the better.�

Indeed, there’s a lot to admire in the new Dana, from banks of state-of-the art lab equipment to preserved remnants of past construction techniques to unprogrammed student spaces of a kind increasingly considered essential to student success. 

Jay Burns, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Communications editorial director, took a moment to talk with architect Michael Hinchcliffe about the thinking behind those student spaces. Hinchcliffe, a principal at Payette, was the lead architect of the Dana project as well as the Bonney Science Center, which opened last year. (Both projects, as well as Carnegie Science Hall, are part of a strategic reconfiguration of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ science facilities.)

Hinchcliffe pointed to a significant difference in emphasis between Dana and Bonney. The latter, he explained, was designed in large part to create “advanced scientific environments in an undergraduate setting.� But the new Dana — originally Dana Chemistry Hall — was reinvented largely to appeal to a broad swath of users and to take advantage of its central location on Alumni Walk.

Central to that objective are features such as glass-walled study rooms, furniture casually sited along public ways, and an inviting “living roomâ€� with fab views of Alumni Walk. (But note that this point of contrast between Dana and Bonney isn’t absolute. Bonney’s two-story, glass-walled Beacon lounge is also meant to draw users from across campus.)  

Consultations with the campus community during the design phase revealed that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students, like their peers elsewhere, seek out seemingly random seating for myriad purposes — for solitude, for a quiet conversation, for a perch to munch a power bar between commitments.

“That was in the back of our minds for spaces like this,â€� Hinchcliffe said. “Most campus buildings from the ’50s [onward] even into the ’80s were over-programmed. Everything was super efficient. They didn’t have this little bit of extra space for students.

“Buildings like Dana and Bonney can offer a type of ‘third space.’ So if you’re working on a problem set or on a project with some peers, you can come to a place like this and work in a way that’s different from someone’s dorm room or a classroom. It’s a little bit more public“ — which can afford a sense of security when people don’t know each other well — “yet it still provides a focus, and quiet, and resources like whiteboards and monitors.â€�

Such places can nurture a sense of belonging, Hinchcliffe continued. According to “a fair amount of literature on modeled behavior and territoriality, students tend to find a place their freshman or their sophomore year that they feel comfortable in. And they’ll tend to go back there, and they also tend to create communities of ‘Oh, yeah, I always see someone else studying there, so it’s okay for me to study there.â€�

Are we there yet? Oftentimes, says Streifel, there’s a comfortable interval between the actual end of construction on a major project and its ceremonial conclusion. So in terms of readiness and presentability, “the shine is already on the apple at that point.�

In the case of Dana, though, “we were really polishing it right up to the very end.�

And even now there’s some work to do. (By way of perspective, some punch list items across campus at the Bonney Center weren’t cleared until this summer.) 

There are subtle finishing touches to Dana’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems remaining — the kind of things that someone can do before classes start for the day. The casework contractor paid a few evening visits last week to discipline some balky drawer slides. Prior to that, there was late-arriving door glass to install.

In the longer term, the tardy autoclave that we mentioned last time will arrive in time for installation during October break, as will some water purification equipment and additional casework. And, as we’ve written before, it takes four seasons to fine-tune a new HVAC system. Streifel himself has a lot of desk work still to do in closing out contracts, etc.

But with Aug. 29 receding in the rearview mirror, he says, “it’s just a relief to be at the tail end of a significant project that was full of challenges and unknowns. And to be able to take something right at the core of the campus, and do a very significant renovation, and turn it back over to its intended use on schedule and on budget, is always a very good deal.�

Chasm Hall: You could say — in fact, we actually are saying — that a recent theme for the Chase Hall renovation has been “holes.�

If you passed the building via Campus Avenue last week, you might have seen a big old hole right in front of the entrance near the Chase–Carnegie Science courtyard. The bottom of the pit had been lined with gravel and was being compacted in preparation for concrete. Along one end of the pit, a partial retaining wall had been placed and a rodbuster was wiring up rebar in anticipation of the next pour.

Here a ramp will be built to carry visitors down into Chase’s new main lobby. But before that happens, walls lining the public sidewalk to either side of the ramp location will be started, with bench seats molded right into the concrete.

Other holes could be found inside Chase. There was a pretty good one inside that same main entrance, as the stairs and the landing outside Skelton and Hirasawa lounges had been demolished. One could look straight down from the second floor to ground level.

Where people using this Chase Hall entrance previously climbed some steps to enter the building, the renovation will provide an accessible ramp here that descends gently from street level into the ground floor. Here, workers are preparing the site for the new construction. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A second-floor window affords a view of site work in front of Chase Hall. A new ramp descending from street level will serve one of two rebuilt Campus Avenue entrances. Note the glossy marine clay around the excavation. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Three separate rooms are being joined to form a student activity space on Chase Hall’s second floor. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

If you came up to Chase Hall’s first floor from the ground level last week, this view of the lobby is what greeted you. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Stockpiled building materials and new ceilings on the second floor. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

This wall in Chase Hall’s lobby will accommodate, at left behind the chair, a door leading to OIE prayer rooms and other first-floor facilities; and, at right, access to a major stairway connecting the building’s three main levels. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The former College Store looking toward the entrance and Chase Hall’s ground-level lobby. Between the camera and the red-brick columns, offices for Campus Life and a community service program will be placed. The space beyond the brick columns will become a student lounge. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Chase Hall Lounge, minus a wall. Note the familiar fireplace at left. The yellow doorway at center shows the location of a new main stairway that will connect all levels of Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A “rodbuster” wires up rebar in preparation for the placement of a concrete retaining wall at what was once Chase Hall’s primary Campus Avenue entrance. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

But the biggest and best hole was in the area behind Chase Lounge. Once a zone of student arts clubs and before them, Dining Services facilities, it’s the future location of stairs and an elevator. In the past weeks the concrete first- and second-floor slabs had been removed, leaving something like a messy atrium.

But how is a floor slab removed safely? “The concrete slabs were demolished via a robotic electric concrete-cutting saw,â€� explained Mike Carpentier, Chase project superintendent for Consigli Construction, the firm managing the project for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

“The rails for the saw are bolted to the slab and it travels on them to make the cuts. This allows the pieces to be dropped to the floor below without workers being in the area. When workers were in the area to move the saw along to the location of the next cut, they were tied off via safety harnesses to the steel structure above.â€�

We gawked at this spectacle (and looked around for a concession stand) while ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager Kristi Mynhier, our tour guide, discussed sprinkler-pipe placement with master plumber Chris Becker, who stood on the far side of the chasm. We expected to hear echoes.

But this man-made wonder of the world won’t be around long. Footings and the foundation for the new stairway and elevator will be placed during the next month.

In previous Chase reporting we’ve mentioned a series of “surprises,� building conditions not shown in old plans or other records. These have been good for Campus Construction Update (yay, sources of dramatic tension that we didn’t have to contrive!) — but not so much for the people actually doing the construction, who have had to scramble to accommodate things like unanticipated hazardous materials and undocumented structural elements.

Well, here’s an example of the scrambling. Mynhier says that new emphasis is being given to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-ins — in fact, in a change of plan, MEP crews will have to work on multiple floors at the same time so the Chase project can be finished by the stipulated date.

“With all of these unforeseen issues that we encountered while we were demoing and exposing the existing structure, it pushed the schedule so that we had to resequence, and the MEP rough-ins became the critical path� — the sequence of jobs that have priority.

“So we actually had to make sure the crews could increase their size in order to do both the first floor rough-in and the second floor rough-in at the same time to keep us on schedule.â€�

At least, Mynhier says, “I think we’ve uncovered all the surprises now, thankfully.� And the construction team for Chase’s next renovation — 100 years from now? — will be able to refer to the 360-degree construction images, many of them in-wall, that the project team is making now.

The Farnsworth Report: Of project manager Paul Farnsworth’s summer responsibilities, Olin Arts Center is where the most work remains to be done. For both the HVAC system replacement and the installation of a new main electrical panel, the arrival of major components has been delayed.

But the building is running just fine. The 800-amp panel was ordered in January and, says Farnsworth, “we’re still not sure it will arrive by next January.â€� In the meantime, the current distribution panel (or current current distribution panel — see what we did there?) is fully functional, just old.  

As for the HVAC system, still outstanding are chillers that will cool and dehydrate interior air. But rental units are bridging the gap till the permanent units are installed, which is expected by October. System debugging is still in progress, but the rental units have enabled technicians to balance flows within the system, so that important step is done.

Appearing beneath the “ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½” in this drone image of the resurfaced Russell Street Track is the water jump for the steeplechase course. (Courtesy of Dave Cleaveland/Maine Imaging)

A view of the new Russell Street Track surface, with Lafayette Street in the background. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Terracotta is the color of the brand-new Mondo surface on the Russell Street Track. While the surface is settling in, the black mat protects it from foot traffic using the soccer field enclosed by the track. The vans in the background are rented by the college for student activities. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

An oblique camera angle turns the Russell Street Track surface into diamonds. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

John Bertram Hall provides a backdrop to the new grandstand at the Campus Avenue Field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

ADA-compliant access to the new bleachers at the Campus Avenue Field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The new bleachers at the Campus Avenue Field. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Farnsworth also oversaw two high-profile undertakings for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Athletics during the summer. One is done: the replacement of the Mondo-brand rubber surface on the Russell Street Track. Bobcats in the track and field program will first compete on the new surface next spring. 

Finally, over at the Campus Avenue Field, the new permanent bleachers are fully functional but still awaiting the metaphorical cherry on top: a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-branded awning to cover the platform where photographers and videographers work. That should ship by the end of September.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and current construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� or “Don’t bogart that populist cannabis product, my friend!â€� in the subject line.

Dana Hall’s future users are scheduled to begin moving into the building starting this coming Monday, Aug. 15.

The move is one of the final milestones in a comprehensive renovation that was years in the planning and about 14 months in execution. The academic building formerly known as Dana Chemistry Hall will open as fall semester classes start on Sept. 7.

Built in 1965 as a center for chemistry teaching and research, Dana exits the renovation with a broadened mission: It’s now the home of introductory education in biology and chemistry at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but also houses state-of-the-art general classrooms for use by all academic departments.

Dana Hall’s second-floor lobby. The entrance at center left opens onto the Historic Quad. The workbench at center is used for cutting plastic lenses for ceiling light fixtures like the ones overhead. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A general-purpose classroom on Dana Hall’s second floor. The modular furniture can easily be reconfigured and moved around to suit various active-learning situations. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Shown in Dana Hall’s attic, this shiny new contraption supplies compressed air to the labs. The dusty compressor at left was brought in temporarily for use in system testing. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A furniture supplier’s car is among vehicles parked at Dana Hall on Aug. 3. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A third-floor study room in Dana Hall. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Pulling a ceiling tile into place in Dana Hall’s first-floor “living room.â€� (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Dana 119 is an introductory chemistry lab. The temporary plastic film on the fume hoods keeps out dust and other contaminants. The rod projecting from the ceiling is the mount for a projector. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Dana Hall’s first-floor lobby. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Labeling various system components was one of the few tasks remaining in Dana Hall’s attic during our Aug. 3 visit. These HVAC ducts expel waste air from the building. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The repurposing is part of a greater transformation of science facilities at the college that has also included construction of the Bonney Science Center, which opened nearly a year ago.

In addition to redefining Dana’s academic role, the makeover vastly improves the experience of simply being inside this building at the heart of campus. Once known for a confined and confusing interior layout, Dana now boasts bright, open interior spaces and vastly improved wayfinding.

Credit there goes to the Boston architectural firm Payette, which also designed the Bonney Science Center. And the two buildings now share a bold visual style distinguished by a white, gray, and lime-green palette, clear sightlines, and a certain sense of industrial chic.

The college received a municipal certificate of occupancy for Dana in June, and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and project construction management firm Consigli Construction have formally agreed that the project is “substantially completeâ€� — meaning that operational control has reverted to the college.

While the list of folks to be based in Dana is still in flux, a few are confirmed: Bruno Salazar-Perea, a lecturer in biology and the faculty fellow for medical studies; Alyson Farrington, assistant in instruction in chemistry and biochemistry; and staff from the Environmental Health and Safety office and from the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.

Two or three days should suffice for moving people in, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Project Manager Chris Streifel said in an Aug. 3 interview. As for inanimate objects, virtually all furniture is on site, if not all in its allotted locations. And supplies and implements for scientific work? “Alyson has tons of stuff for the general chemistry labsâ€� coming in from the Bonney Center, Streifel said.

“That’s far and away the biggest single cluster of things. Then there’s a mishmash of stuff coming from Carnegie Science Hall for the biology spaces. The move is really not a big effort, at least compared to moving into Bonney last summer.â€�

But Streifel also noted that tangled supply chains continue to affect the Dana project, if not in a decisive way. “There’s an autoclave that we’ve been waiting on for months that still has an unknown delivery date. We’re seeing slowdowns in some other science equipment that we ordered quite a while ago.â€�

He added, “The furniture that we ordered with ample lead time, well, it certainly came down to the wire in a couple of cases. But there’s nothing still [missing] at this point that should waylay us from opening for classes.�

As for work on the building itself, the chore list had gotten pretty short when we visited Dana last week. A substantial number of doors still awaited installation, a process slowed by a shortage of workers in that particular trade. (Our suggestion of hanging beaded curtains as a stopgap measure was politely rebuffed.) There was painting to finish as well. 

In terms of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, the building-wide tests collectively known as commissioning are wrapping up, Streifel said. Scheduled for late last week was the integrated systems test, which focuses on things electrical. “We’ll turn everything off and turn it on and see if it comes back the way it’s supposed to.â€�

Punch lists are being closed out, meaning that remaining defects are being addressed. Last Friday, the project team was slated to review that process one last time with Payette principal architect Michael Hinchcliffe.

Six years into the relationship between ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and Payette, Streifel characterized the Boston firm as “fantasticâ€� — expert, engaged, and supportive. “When there’s a need for something, they’re there to provide it,â€� he said. “They’ve put together a good building for usâ€� — again.

“This space is going to work really well for us for many decades to come.�

When slabs collide

Deep in the renovation zone on Chase Hall’s first floor, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager Kristi Mynhier points overhead.

In a part of the building where demolition has left little but structural elements, removal of the suspended ceiling has revealed two very different surfaces.

With a massive steel beam at their junction, each surface is the underside of a concrete floor slab. One slab comprises long, pale panels of concrete. But the concrete substance of the other can’t be seen from here: It’s atop a dark complex of steel parts and a layer of paper.

We’re visiting an area where, as part of the 14-month renovation of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ landmark, a pair of restrooms will be built. This is along the junction of the two additions to the century-old original building: Memorial Commons, opened in 1950, and a 1978 expansion of the dining area that resulted in what came to be known as the Small Room (or the Tool Shed, a snarky allusion to the more studious undergrads who were rumored to gather there).

It’s slightly poignant to consider that the restroom will be used by people who, unless they closely follow Campus Construction Update, have no idea of the history over their heads.

As part of the 1950 renovation, the paper-lined slab was cast in place atop tubular steel joists, explains Consigli Construction’s Michael Carpentier, project superintendent for the Dana and Chase renovations. (Consigli is the construction management firm for both renovation projects.)

Gaping holes in these Chase Hall walls were once filled with post office boxes. Soon the walls will be gone, too. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Half of Chase Hall Lounge has undergone asbestos abatement during the past few weeks. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A new stairway will pass through this former College Store space. The floor has been precut to ease its demolition. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Bereft of wall, ceiling, and floor coverings, Chase Hall’s first-floor lobby hardly looks like itself. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A new elevator and a new stairway will be placed near the OIE reception area, shown at rear. But first the entire floor slab will be removed. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Situated at the east end of Chase Lounge, this space will be hard to recognize after the Chase Hall renovation. The single door into the lounge will be replaced by double glass doors, and the stairs will become a ramp leading to a landing for a new stairway and elevator. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Chase Hall under renovation on Aug. 3, 2022. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

While the exact process isn’t known, it’s possible that the paper was used to constrain oozing around removable wooden forms that actually supported the concrete as it cured. Similar techniques were used in Dana and Pettigrew halls.

The 1978 slab, meanwhile, “is a panelized precast system set over steel beams,� Carpentier says. “These panels were fabricated offsite and craned into position before installing the roof structure.�

Such discoveries exemplify the archaeological appeal of building renovations — especially when the building is as old as Chase, built in 1919.

Both Consigli and Canal 5 Studio, architectural designers of the renovation, are doing what Mynhier calls a “phenomenal job� harmonizing the project goals with campus affection for Chase — and with the sometimes-challenging realities of a building with a mind-bending history of makeovers large and small.

If surprises come with every building project, Chase Hall is especially rich in “What the…?!� moments. The junction between the two additions, for instance, poses its own puzzle for the project team to solve — but it’s underfoot, not overhead.

As Mynhier says, “We have got the flooring contractor working to see what we can do, as far as prep goes, so that we can successfully install new flooring� over the joint between the additions’ subfloors, a groove that zigzags across the space.

Continuing the surprise theme, we told you last time about a bunch of them clustered in a section of Chase’s second floor that’s laid out in rooms — most recently, Student Affairs offices — branching from a central corridor.

One such surprise was the presence within two walls of load-bearing columns where the building plans showed no such thing. The walls will be removed as planned, rendering three smaller rooms into one flexible student-activities room, but the structurally necessary columns will stay, joined by a few new ones.

“We’re reworking the furniture plan around the columns,â€� says Mynhier.

In other Chase news, hazmat-abatement firm Acadia Contractors continues to remove asbestos-bearing materials at specific sites in the basement and on the first floor. Abatement on the latter has included a big chunk of Chase Hall Lounge and a section of ceiling near the door that opens into the Carnegie Science–Chase Hall courtyard.

The later assignment entailed the removal of both materials hazardous and otherwise. “Instead of having two different trades mobilize, we just had Acadia perform selective demolition to get to where they needed to abate,� Mynhier explains. The ceiling job will make way for a new layout of walls, stairs, and access to Campus Avenue — taken together, a defining outcome of the renovation.

But Chase, of course, has two entrances onto Campus Avenue, and both will be dramatically reconfigured in the renovation. At the entrance near Bardwell Street and the Muskie Archives, visitors will find a new elevator and stairs designed to streamline access to the Office of Intercultural Education and other key facilities at that end of the building.

In preparation for those new features, the demolition of large expanses of floor slab on three levels began late last week. Consigli is knocking out the sections of slab.

Mano a Mondo

The new Mondo rubber surface on ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ Russell Street Track should all be in place early next week.

Then the surface has to rest for 30 days, allowing sunlight to cook off a paraffin coating from manufacturing, before it can be striped. That paintwork, using a proprietary product made by the track-surface manufacturer, will be the final step in the project. The paint dries to the touch in as few as 10 minutes and as many as 30, depending on weather, but needs up to three days before it’s ready for use.

The Mondo Sportflex Super X 720, a two-layer product produced by the same Italian firm that supplied the track’s original surface 21 years ago, was delivered on July 25 by eight tractor-trailer rigs, and installation began the following day. 

While ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ varsity track and field teams won’t use the facility till spring, there’s still time pressure on the resurfacing project, from the soccer program, whose first home games take place Sept. 10 with both men and women playing Bowdoin. Because the soccer pitch sits inside the track, players will have to walk across the track for the games, and the Mondo installation needs to be done by then.

In the meantime, notes ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Project Manager Paul Farnsworth, he and project contractor Miller Sports Construction of West Chester, Pa., worked with Facility Services to program the soccer field irrigation system so the track would be dry where subcontractor Wicked Flooring of Rockford, Ill. (an Illinois company with a New England name!) needed to lay Mondo each day. (Watered every other night, the grass field is divided into 16 irrigation zones that the system cycles through.)

We explained previously that gluing the Mondo into place is about as hands-on as a job can be: It’s done by one man wielding a hand tool. But it turns out that much of the Mondo work has required the armstrong method.

The rolls were unspooled and positioned by hand, stretched around the curves by hand, and their edges trimmed and joined by hand — again, by a single worker with a hand tool.

Placement of the new Mondo surface on the Russell Street Track was well underway by the morning of July 28. (Paul Farnsworth/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Tim Moehling of Wicked Flooring uses a forklift to move a 50-foot roll of Mondo track surface on July 28. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A team from an Illinois company with a great New England name, Wicked Flooring, of Rockford, lays out the new surface on the Russell Street Track on July 28. The concrete blocks will be used to hold the edges of the surface down while glue dries and cooler air causes the Mondo surface to contract. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Corey Ernst of Wicked Flooring, the Illinois-based subcontractor laying the Mondo surface on the Russell Street Track, hand-trims an edge to ensure a perfect fit. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Workers purposely overlap the Mondo sections to allow for expansion, then trim the sections to fit. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The label on an unopened roll of Mondo Sportflex Super X 720, the new running surface on the Russell Street Track. (Jay Burns/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

On a day when our colleague Jay Burns, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Communications editorial director, was photographing progress at the track, the Wicked Flooring cutter-trimmer was Corey Ernst. Burns learned that all told, Ernst would make more than a mile of trims, changing the blade in his knife every 30 feet.

He asked Ernst if he gets into a flow, in the psychological sense. “Yeah,” Ernst said. “You kinda have to, if you’re going to do this work.”

As the 50-foot strips are unrolled and placed side by side, workers slightly overlap the sections to allow for expansion in their width. Then Ernst comes through, trimming the overlaps. After the surface is glued in place, the seams are weighted down with blocks.

Elsewhere on Farnsworth’s summer chore list, the upgrade of the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system at the Olin Arts Center is progressing. In the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Museum of Art, new in-wall insulation has been placed and new air diffusers and related piping installed above the ceilings.

Still to be delivered are central chillers and an air handler for the HVAC system. In the meantime, rental HVAC equipment will both enable technicians to balance flows within the revamped air-handling network and keep building occupants comfortable.

This being August, a few projects on Farnsworth’s list are wrapping up. The new bleachers at the Campus Avenue Field are nearly finished. And the plumbing upgrades in Page Hall are complete. These included not just the replacement of the original 1957 toilets with water-conserving 21st-century models, but the substitution of water-bottle fillers for the porcelain drinking fountains on each floor — which, Farnsworth quips, “came over on the Mayflower.�

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and parallel-universe construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� or “While the autoclave is delayed, couldn’t they clave manually?” in the subject line.