Sophia Cattallani ’25 of Skaneateles, N.Y., kept her trumpet zipped in her jacket, protected from the chilly November air, until midway through this morning’s Veterans Day observance. Then it was time to play, and she did, offering a slow, haunting rendition of taps.

Nearby, Kevin Michaud, a Campus Safety officer, stood at attention. He wore a U.S. Air Force cap and offered a firm salute as fellow members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community listened in silence.

For Michaud, this Veterans Day is a day to remember the service of his late brother, George, who was also a veteran of the Air Force. “It’s the same when I’m working a football game and they play the national anthem,� Michaud said of his salute. “It’s a sign of respect.�

This is what the Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, the college’s multifaith chaplain, asked those gathered around the plaza to join her in doing: To think of the veterans in their lives — the cousins, uncles, neighbors, friends, and colleagues. 

During the gathering, Longsdorf invited attendees to join in the ritual of laying flowers of remembrance on the plaza. When Cattalani placed her flower, she remembered her grandfather, who had served in the Vietnam War and died two years ago. He was one reason she wanted to come play the iconic bugle call that is played at military funerals.

“I felt I was playing it for him today, in his honor, and for the people here, for those they hold in their hearts,â€� said Cattallani, who offered last year’s taps as well.

Longsdorf reminded the group that for 105 years, Americans have stopped once a year “to pause and reflect on all that has been sacrificed and shared in a continual journey towards freedom and peace.�

And, she emphasized: Everyone knows someone who has served our country. “We all have veterans in our lives in ways both big and small.â€�

In Longsdorf’s family, “my Papa served in the Navy, my cousins in the Army, a close friend in the Marines,” she said. “My aunt worked for the Coast Guard for a while, my 3-year-old daughter’s best friend’s dad is currently deployed. We have new neighbors who are becoming close friends who served in the Navy.”

Longsdorf called the experience of knowing and being cared for by the work and sacrifice of veterans “one of the most shared human experiences.� Unfortunately, she shared with the group, many veterans have told her about the pain of feeling unseen for their service, which they consider a contribution to society, even a part of their identity.

She asked those gathered to think of one veteran they knew when they placed their carnation on top of the plaza’s smooth, reflective black surface. 

“It means something — it really means something to pause today to acknowledge all of the ways our country, our communities, and our lives have been shaped by the veterans in our midst,� Longsdorf said.

Michaud, who served in the Air Force for 13 years, appreciated that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ created Veterans Plaza three years ago, offering a place he can visit on a more regular basis to remember all the veterans he has known. Michaud also appreciated that ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Gary W. Jenkins sent letters to all the veterans on the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ staff and faculty this year, to thank them for their service. 

“It means an awful lot. It’s nice to know ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ remembers us,â€� Michaud said.

Michaud, who at times has worked nights during his nearly nine years at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, often has stopped by the plaza at the start of a night shift “to pay my respects.”

As James Reese placed his flower, he remembered his uncle, Charles Kennedy, a career Army soldier stationed in Georgia. Kennedy didn’t talk much about his time in the Army, but Reese knew he was proud of his service. 

“You could tell he was very sincere,â€� said Reese, associate dean for international student programs at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. “His commitment and what he thought about it, his place amidst the struggles of society going on at that time. He wanted to be of service, to help improve society.â€� 

Peter Morgan ’72 of Raymond, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Vietnam War, came to honor three young men with whom he served and who died while they were stationed in New Jersey. He had their names on a card he was considering leaving on the plaza’s granite stone, alongside the flowers.

“Thank you for doing this,â€� Morgan said of the multifaith gathering. 

The air was cold and crisp as a group of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students, staff, faculty, and community members gathered at Veterans Plaza to commemorate Veterans Day. 

The Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, the college’s multifaith chaplain, welcomed the gathering. “Our very ability to live in a progressive and loving educational community like ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is indebted to our family and friends who have served our country and other countries in this and in many ways,â€� she said. 

She spoke of the need to both honor and see veterans. “Our culture acknowledges veterans less and less, and members of our community feel unseen. This is why today is so important.�

During the gathering, Longsdorf read aloud an interfaith prayer that she composed. Chaplaincy program coordinator Samantha McCune read the poem “For Absence” by John O’Donohue, and Frances White ’23 of New York City read the anonymous poem “For Peace.” Associate Multifaith Chaplain Raymond Clothier offered the benediction.

Julie Jeserum ’22 of Weston, Mass., performed taps on the trumpet. The last time she had heard taps played was at the funeral of her grandfather, a World War II veteran. It was an honor, she said, “to be able to play such a symbolic song for a day of remembrance.”

A basket of rocks sat on one of the six basalt blocks that comprise the plaza centerpiece. Longsdorf invited everyone to take a rock, hold it for a moment, and then place it on the blocks. 

Over the course of the day, 52 stones were placed, Longsdorf said later. “That means 52 people observed a moment for Veterans Day,â€� in the spirit of the plaza, a space that, in the words of an inscription on the basalt centerpiece, “honors the service and sacrifice of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ veterans.â€�

“I think the memorial allows us to craft a ritual that people can interact with throughout the day, which has been really lovely.�

The plaza, dedicated in 2020, is located near the Benjamin E. Mays Center and is ringed by seven benches. At the entrance to the patio is a stainless-steel marker with an inscription, “inviting reflection on the impact of war on the lives of everyone it touches.�

Longsdorf wanted the ceremony to make veterans and their families feel welcome, and also seen.

“Many find that they feel deeply forgotten and that’s painful for them. We really want to name that, and really ask people to see them and acknowledge them with gratitude and remembrance — whether they’re living or passed — and to acknowledge the ways veterans have impacted all of us in our daily lives and here at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.â€�

Longsdorf is an ordained minister of the Community of Christ church, a progressive peace church. She knows people have complex, painful and often differing feelings around Veterans Day and war. But she points to the wider paths service can take.

“I think those who do enlist give up so much, and it isn’t always war that they’re going to. There’s the National Guard, and the Coast Guard, and they’re the ones staffing our vaccine centers across the country right now,â€� Longsdorf said. “So much of service is outside the realm of war.â€�

And those veterans who have served in combat, “so many of their intentions and the reasons they chose that life were to protect their family and loved ones in the way they knew how.�

Longsdorf hopes that the plaza continues to become a place where “every person at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ can feel like they can be their whole selves,” and where each Veterans Day affords “another way to allow people with complex pasts to bring their whole selves to this place.â€�

The clean-shaven J.J. Cummings ’89 doesn’t look at all like Uncle Sam. But a message he gave ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students on Oct. 9 resonated with Sam’s words on that famous U.S. Army recruiting poster: “I want you.” 

In helping to dedicate the new Veterans Plaza, a small campus park designed to inspire thoughtful appreciation for the contributions and sacrifices of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ military veterans, Cummings asked today’s students to consider joining the armed forces.

And if any ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ alum has the standing to make such a request, it’s Cummings: The 34-year veteran of the U.S. Navy is commanding officer of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

“Our nation needs liberal arts–educated officers in the ranks,â€� Cummings said. “Without a doubt, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College made me the leader that I am today.…It is clear to me that my worldview and leadership style are different from what I see from my peers.

“I attribute this to my ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience, which showed me the value of reading from a variety of sources, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, strong intelligible writing skills, humility, and integrity.â€�

Cummings was the keynote speaker for the virtual dedication of the plaza, culminating a project that began in early 2018. The midday livestream also featured college President Clayton Spencer, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden ’11, professor Jane Costlow, Janell Sato ’22, Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf, and retired Facility Services staff member Danny Sands, a member of the committee that developed the project.

A video montage combining aerial and ground-level shots gave viewers a visual introduction to the plaza, which was created during the summer on a site near the Residential Village, about 250 feet northwest of Garcelon Field’s north goalposts.

The plaza’s design is by Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture, which previously handled the Ladd Library Plaza project, among others. The contractor was Carrier Landscape.

As Spencer explained in her welcoming remarks, the Veterans Plaza is intended to “honor military service as a form of public service, but not militarism or nationalism per se.â€� It’s meant to recognize the contributions and sacrifices of all ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ veterans, rather than any one individual.

And its location and design — including benches, a central stone focal object, and a screen of trees — should foster tranquillity. The plaza “should inspire contemplation and welcome the varied interpretations that individuals may bring to the subject of war and military service.â€� 

Spencer continued, “Henceforth, Veterans Plaza will be part and parcel of our mission to educate and transform lives.� She quoted Pericles: “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.�

She said, “Veterans Plaza is sign, symbol, and celebration of the service and sacrifice of those who have preceded us, in this space dedicated on this day for the current generation and the many generations that will follow.”

Clark A. Griffith Professor of Environmental Studies as well as a scholar of Russian literature, Costlow discussed the plaza’s relevance to the college’s educational mission. While making clear that her own understanding of war has come from family members’ service and Eastern European literature, she said that nevertheless “all of those stories give me a sense of the reality of war and the consequences for humans, both soldiers and civilians, whose lives are swept up in military conflict.â€� 

The reality and consequences of war, Costlow said, have been mirrored in the writings of Leo Tolstoy, who fought in the Crimean War; Vasily Grossman, a Soviet-Jewish reporter whose writings about Treblinka were among the earliest journalistic accounts of a Nazi death camp; memoirs of women who survived the siege of Leningrad; “and the stories of my own dear friends who were evacuated from Ukraine as German forces were pushing East.�

She continued, “Teachers at a place like ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ ask our students to grapple with the great complexities of life, complexities born of politics and history, but also of human psychology itself. I treasure the fact that young men and women I taught have joined the military and have taken some of their ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ conversations and readings into lives that have no doubt demanded great wisdom and complicated decisions.â€� 

“My hope as a teacher is that with time, this memorial that we dedicate today will become a place for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ undergraduates to hear and reflect on many stories…but where they also might hear the voices of alums and peers as they share their own memories and reflections on their experiences of service and combat.â€�

Capt. Cummings established the most encompassing context for the dedication. This only makes sense considering both his ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ background and his decades as a U.S. Navy officer, a career that also included flying combat missions over Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002.

In his wry and lively seven minutes, livestreamed from the flight deck of the Ford, Cummings noted that while it’s nice to thank members of the armed forces for their service, the sacrifices made by their families justify as much, if not more, gratitude. 

He pointed out ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ longstanding support for the armed forces, such as hosting a Navy V-12 officer training program during World War II; and for veterans, citing the “Sampsonvilleâ€� housing for WWII vets attending ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, and for their families, that the college established not far from the Veterans Plaza. 

The plaza “is yet another example of how ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College has moved beyond words and taken action to honor veterans,â€� Cummings said. “Sites like this are not generally found at NESCAC schools.â€�

And he expressed the hope that today’s ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students would take a minute to absorb the import of the plaza. “I hope they understand that every service member volunteers to raise their right hand to recite an oath to support and defend — not one man, a king, a queen or a tyrant or political party — but the Constitution of the United States.”

Jared Golden ’11, who represents Maine’s 2nd District in Congress, offered brief remarks. A Marine Corps combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, he envisioned the plaza as a place where he, personally, might think about ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ people who died while serving.

“Where might they be today? What potential has been lost? What great things would they be doing if they hadn’t made the sacrifice? — a worthy sacrifice for our country, but we should still take stock of the loss for the entire country and of course, particularly for their families.â€�

Danny Sands, too, is a combat veteran, having served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. His connection to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is professional: Last year he retired from Facility Services after 32 years, ending his ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ career as manager of carpentry, painting, and masonry.

As a member of the Veterans Recognition Project Committee, Sands was most impressed by the committee’s unified commitment to make the project work, despite disparate viewpoints and life experiences among members.

“As the committee meetings went on,� he explained, “it was clear that there was a great deal of work ahead. Yet everyone took this seriously, [even with] the wide range of backgrounds within the group, which made the meetings interesting, to say the least. My thoughts were that this amount of work seemed less important than the objective that we were trying to reach.�

Representing ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students was Janell Sato ’22 of Honolulu, scion of a family with meaningful military connections. Her great-grandfather served in a highly decorated U.S. Army regiment during World War II. Her father is a lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii National Guard, and her older brother is on active duty in the Marines. (Her younger brother, Jarrin, is a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ first-year.)

“May those whose bodies still carry the terror and wounds of war find healing here. May those whose minds still feel haunted by violence and hardship find calm here.”

The plaza “is a perfect environment to honor and acknowledge the inspiring work that has been done,� Sato said. “When you sit on the benches and hear the rustling leaves and feel the slight breeze blowing softly on your skin, you are able to take a moment in, and honor all those who have served.�

“I personally love taking breaks from my studies by going out to the Veterans Plaza and just enjoying the peace and quiet this environment provides.�

Longsdorf offered a benediction to conclude the ceremony. She said, “May those whose bodies still carry the terror and wounds of war find healing here. May those whose minds still feel haunted by violence and hardship find calm here. May those whose hearts still ache with grief, loss, and woe for a beloved lost in warfare find remembrance here.

“May those whose souls have felt heavy with the burden of duty and service find peace here. May this space invoke in all of us an awe for freedom, liberation, and justice, and inspire us to honor all those who have served and strived to amplify these ideals.�

During the second week of September, the folks involved in creating ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ new Veterans Plaza met at the site to review punch-list items, the inevitable fixes needed at the end of any construction project.

Afterward, Facility Services project manager Shelby Burgau paused by one of the plaza’s new benches to tie her shoe. She then decided to take a quick break in that tree-screened plot near the Residential Village.

“I thought, ‘Hey, this is really nice,’â€� says Burgau. While the plaza was built as a place to contemplate the impacts of war and honor the service of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ military veterans, she notes, its comforts stand on their own.

“But if you’re going for those purposes, I think we met the goal — especially,� she adds, “once the trees become fuller and give a little bit more privacy. Right now, obviously, they’re still young. But it’ll just become more of an oasis over the years.�

In early August, the two elements that really define the site were placed: the focal object, which is a sculptural centerpiece combining natural and polished basalt, and a steel marker designating the plaza entrance. The construction fence surrounding the site came down at the end of the month.

The plaza will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, in a virtual ceremony whose speakers will include U.S. Navy Capt. J.J. Cummings ’89, commander of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford; and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden ’11, who served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan. To register for this Zoom event, .

Room to run: It could be the title of a song that Bruce Springsteen didn’t quite write. But instead, says ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager Chris Streifel, “‘room to run’ is kind of the catchphrase of the last month or soâ€� at the Bonney Science Center construction site.

“There’s this intricate dance amongst all of the exterior work,� he explains. Making room to run is “just basically clearing space so that each individual trade can do their own work unencumbered, unimpeded.�

From the top down, that exterior work includes:

• roofing, notably the fabrication of Bonney’s elaborate gutter system;
• application of weatherproofing membranes, although that job is about done;
• installation of window units, followed by glass;
• and bricklaying, including the attachment of major steel components to support the brick.

So “when the masons are going to a certain area of the building,� for example, there shouldn’t be “work overhead that’s complicating it, making it dangerous, or just creating conflicts,� Streifel says.

For Consigli Construction, the firm that’s managing the building of the science center, “looking ahead and keeping all those different pieces aligned is the biggest trick, I think — orchestrating those moves so that everybody has work to do consistently. It can be a little tricky given how tight� quarters are on the site.

Consigli’s planning, Streifel adds, “is a collective function. There are regular meetings to talk schedule and logistics, and to understand how things have to come together so everybody’s moving in the same direction. And everybody has an opportunity to voice their opinions.� That being said, the day-to-day direction falls to Consigli’s Lee Follett, project superintendent, and Matt Rose, executive field supervisor.

So what’s up with the roof? As we’ve previously noted, the Bonney lid is a complex design that ultimately will be topped with a charcoal-gray copper product. Now visible on the roof are weatherproofing membrane and DensDeck roofing panels, both medium gray, and plywood-colored plywood. But soon the dark copper will appear along the gutters.

“We’re getting close,� Streifel says. “They’re working through some issues on the corner near Bardwell Street that are giving them pause, to make sure that everything is understood, just because of how specialized, intricate, and challenging that work will be. But I hope to see some copper on there very soon.�

As for windows, the Bonney center will have two varieties. One is the floor-to-ceiling style that, repeated in quantity along all four walls, will someday dazzle students and faculty with generous views. For those, all the steel frames and panes have arrived at the construction site, and at least half of the frames have been installed.

Better still, installation of the glass has begun, its reflections and refractions giving passers-by a frisson of new visual interest (at least until the windows are temporarily covered with protective foam panels). When we visited on Sept. 22, window glass was evident on the Bardwell Street and Campus Avenue sides, and around the corner on the south wall.

We were interested to learn that although these are all essentially the same window, the frame and glass are custom-fitted to each window opening, thanks to subtle, unavoidable size variations from one opening to the next.

The other type of Bonney window is what industry folks call a curtain wall and what we call something that we wouldn’t want to wash, because those windows are just plain big. Affording dramatic views both inward and out, Bonney will sport a few of these glassy expanses. (Which leads one to wonder why “curtain wall” became the name of this configuration, since both curtains and walls block the view.)

One, spanning three stories, will enclose the so-called Monumental Stairs that face Carnegie Science Hall. A third-floor classroom will have a glass wall facing east. And then there’s the signature Beacon, sited at the northwest end of the building and overlooking the Historic Quad and Campus Construction Update’s usual parking place.

With the Monumental Stairs still being built, the Beacon will come first. Its frame is being fabricated now, with the metal components resembling the floor-to-ceiling frames.

Insider trades: In the basement, those bus-sized air handlers have been tested and were due for inspection this week, although they won’t actually start huffing and puffing in earnest till next year. Metalworkers are nearly done fabricating air ducts, and electrical and mechanical technicians are still running their pipes and conduits from here to there. Similar work continues on the fourth floor, the so-called penthouse that like the basement is jam-packed with big machines serving the entire building.

In between are floors one through three, and they’re following, more or the less, the same progression. All the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure that needs to be placed up high, snug against the decking above, is installed first. (Pros call it MEP, pronounced M-E-P — as opposed to “mep� infrastructure, which is fine but nothing to get excited about.)

“Then that stuff gets sprayed with acoustical soundproofing or fireproofing, depending on where you’re at in the building,â€� Streifel explains. “Then the walls go in, and then the drywall tops go around all the upper big infrastructure.” Next comes the in-wall MEP stuff — cables and conduits and pipes, oh my! — and those are installed while a given wall still has one side open for access. Then MEP infrastructure is run into the ceilings.

The first floor is ahead of the second and third. There, MEP crews are finishing up ceiling installations. The bigger news is that painters have arrived — that is, drywall installers have made enough progress that there are walls ready to prime, and in fact there are now discernible offices, storerooms, and corridors.

On the second floor, the focus is on hanging drywall, but enough progress has been made with MEP rough-ins, and their accompanying inspections, that the drywall crews are closing up both sides of walls started previously. And on the third floor, the in-wall MEP is getting underway.

In short, to quote Fats Waller, the joint is jumping. Streifel describes a Sept. 16 visit to the science center: “It felt busy. ‘Commotion’ is almost the right word. There was a lot of action. I was mostly on the second and third floors, and you didn’t even have to really see it — you could just kind of feel progress being made inside.

“It was really encouraging.�

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and aspirational construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� or “Brrr, it’s frisson in hereâ€� in the subject line.

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

“Things are looking awesomeâ€� at the Veterans Plaza construction site, reports Shelby Burgau, who is managing the project for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

As we wrote in May, the plaza will be a tranquil place that honors military service as a form of public service while acknowledging war’s universal impacts. In the month-plus since work began at the site, near North Bardwell Street and the Residential Village:

• electric service was run in;
• a concrete slab was placed and topped with a “setting bedâ€� of asphalt to support paving blocks, and most of those pavers were placed;
• trees were planted and sod was laid;
• and seven benches were installed around the center of the site.

The pavers are identical to those on Alumni Walk except for their color, which is a bit lighter.

The 14 new trees are Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis), selected for their branching habit and spring blossoms by design firm Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture.

“Really, at this point, it’s just finishing touches,” Burgau says. Those include two unique features: the so-called focal object, an assemblage of basalt that combines textures and text to form a contemplative centerpiece for the plaza, and a stainless steel creation marking the plaza entrance.

Stone Forest, a stone-working firm in New Mexico, is providing the focal object. Nelson Metal Fabrication of South Portland, Maine, is making the marker. This metal cuboid will be stained dark and will show the college seal and text including the plaza’s name.

The marker should be in place by the end of July and the focal object by sometime in August.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and aspirational construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to hubley.ccu@gmail.com, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� in the subject line.

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

We were loafing on Bardwell Street on Monday when we spied a flatbed truck bearing the Maine Masonry logo.

A forklift operator was nearly done unloading the truck, which had brought to the Bonney Science Center site the first installment of the self-elevating Hydro Mobile staging that masons will stand on as they cover the science center’s walls in brick — work likely to be underway by next week.

As applicators for Standard Waterproofing of Winslow, Maine, go around the building laying “blueskin� air and vapor barrier onto the bare concrete walls, the Maine Masonry bricklayers will follow. That means that the bricks will first appear on the south wall, facing downtown Lewiston.

Shown being unloaded by a forklift, components for the Hydro Mobile staging — so-called mast-climbing work platforms that are hydraulically raised and lowered — showed up on July 13. They were delivered by Maine Masonry, which will use them for bricklaying. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Seen from the third floor of Chu Hall, this July 10 view of the Bonney Science Center shows completed roof decking and, on the south wall, blueskin vapor barrier being applied. (Geoff Swift/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

This July 10 view from Campus Avenue at Nichols Street shows the progress of blueskin application around the Bonney center. (Geoff Swift/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Roofers applying a temporary weather barrier on the south side of the science center. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

A roofing crew applies a temporary weatherproofing membrane over the Bonney center roof decking. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Bare metal roof decking on the Bonney Science Center is visible at the center of this photo. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Electrofusion in action: The glowing light indicates that an electrical current is causing the pipe threads in this connection to melt and fuse together. The blue pipes, made from an acid-proof plastic, are part of a system that will convey chemical lab waste to a holding tank. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Preparing to cut a hole for a conduit on the first floor of the science center. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The Bonney Science Center elevator shaft, shown on the first floor. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Wall framers at work in the Bonney Center penthouse on July 13. The area at left, which will contain a generator and air chillers, will remain open to the elements, while the rest of this fourth-floor space will be enclosed. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Foreshortened by the camera but extending to the corner of the roof by Nichols Street, this temporary plywood installation gives a sense of where the north-side gutter will run. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Looking east on Campus Avenue from the Bonney center penthouse. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The Bonney Science Center seen from Campus Avenue on July 13. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Coming attractions, or the Bonney center’s north wall. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

This is exciting in part because of the visual effect that a spreading veneer of brick creates. If you hang around the Bonney site as much as Campus Construction Update does (it keeps us out of trouble), you’ll see that the bricks will bring the building a long way toward its final appearance. As an interesting corollary, the building will appear to shrink a bit even as the bricks actually, if only slightly, increase its size. This is because bricks, being darker than concrete, are visually more recessive.

Another notable process happening now relates to a standing goal in the construction of buildings, which is to make them weatherproof as soon as possible. (In fact, studies have shown that the desire to get in out of the rain was a major driver in the invention of buildings.) To that end, a temporary rainproof membrane is being applied to the shiny steel Bonney roof decking, which itself was completed in late June.

Likewise weather-related and occurring high in the air is the start of gutter construction. Normally we strive to keep our mind out of the gutter, but as an object of contemplation the Bonney center’s stormwater gutters beat the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog all hollow. They constitute, in fact, a building system surprising in its intricacy and inventiveness.

When Bonney construction is finished, about a year hence, the gutters won’t be apparent. That is, they will not project out from the roof’s edge as one would expect. Instead, the gutter will be a channel set back slightly from the roof edge, so as to gather water flowing down from the roof peaks as well as from the narrow rim that’s outboard of the gutter. The edge of that rim will sit flush with the surface of the exterior wall.

Drainpipes will conduct the runoff to the building’s stormwater treatment system. Electric heat mats in the gutter troughs will melt ice and snow. Layers of insulation, copper, and water barrier will accomplish other feats that we’re still trying to comprehend.

In short, constructing the gutters will demand a complex choreography of multiple visits from several building trades — carpenters, plumbers, insulation installers, metalworkers, etc. — a choreography taking place, don’t forget, in cherry pickers four stories up. (Suddenly we regret all the little trees growing from our own rain gutters.)

Chris Streifel, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ project manager for the Bonney Science Center, points out that in its sophistication, the gutter is consistent with the greater roof (and building) design. Aside from one flat and level section at the very top of the building that will be covered with a rubbery membrane, the building’s lid comprises a mix of pitches and orientations.

“The biggest challenge on the building’s exterior for the construction team, I think, is working those gutter details,â€� Streifel says. “But then there’s a lot to the overall roof. There’s nothing particularly unique about the materials — it’s just the way that the forms and details come together with almost zero repetition.â€�

Providing visual unity is the roof covering, a copper product that will arrive “pre-weatheredâ€� to an attractive dark color and will be laid in a standing-seam format. Made by Revere Copper Products and called “Continental Bronze,” this material is already known to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ roofing aficionados from the renovation of Hedge and Roger Williams halls a decade ago.

Top to bottom: Inside the Bonney center, there’s a certain urgency to the progress in the uppermost story — the so-called penthouse — and the basement, which both house various major electrical and mechanical components.

“There are matched-pair systems at the bottom and in the top that all have to be completed to make the whole building work,â€� HVAC being a prominent example, Streifel says. “A critical aspect of work will be getting those systems in place, and then in the spaces between, everything else can go in.â€�

With the roof decked over, “the penthouse now is available as a work space, so they’ve directed a lot of the wall framing crew up there. The priority now is to close in the walls around the mechanical wellâ€� — an area open to the sky where a generator and other gizmos will live — “and a couple of other locations.â€�

Streifel adds, “A parapet runs along the perimeter of the flat roof and that needs to be built to finish up the membrane and terminate the flat roof. The flat roof will be one of the first actual roofing products that goes on that’ll stay,â€� in contrast to the temporary membrane being applied to the pitched roof.

The wall framers are also focusing on the window openings to “make sure that all of those areas are framed so that the waterproofing and frame installation can continue.”

In the basement, there are two areas of emphasis, one related to building-wide mechanical-electrical-etc. and the other, not so much. The latter is wall and ceiling construction in the vivarium. The former “is just the steady progression of adding more and more pipe, wire, and controls that service all of the HVAC, electrical, and plumbing equipment� in the jam-packed mechanical area, Streifel explains.

“That’ll be a steady progression from coarse to fine over months until that equipment’s ready to be started up — October, November, or December. It won’t all happen at once, either.â€�

So what’s shaking in between the top and bottom? Progress is deliberately slow on the third floor, because the building still isn’t completely weathertight and the third floor serves as something of a shield for the floors below. The first floor is ahead of the second floor (not that it’s a race, but would anyone like to get into a pool?), but otherwise the chores there are fundamentally the same: installing walls and utilities.

With the utilities in particular, Streifel explains, from week to week it’s “sometimes hard to see much difference because it kind of all looks the same. But if you pay attention, you can see just how much more there is in the walls and overhead.â€� He adds, “What the mechanical and electrical people are focused on now is all of that infrastructure behind the walls and above the ceilings.”

In other Bonney news, the building’s dedicated electrical transformer was energized on June 25, a job that entailed darkening Chu Hall for the day. While the switchgear inside Bonney isn’t quite ready to receive juice from the transformer, “that’s a pretty big milestoneâ€� nevertheless, Streifel says. It means that major electrical work can take place without affecting other campus operations.

Finally, he reports that the first shipment of steel has arrived for what the construction team calls the “monumental stair,� a prominent architectural feature that will be showcased behind a three-story glass curtain wall. But more about that later.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, and aspirational construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to hubley.ccu@gmail.com, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� or “Frederick’s of wha’?” in the subject line.

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

In mid-June, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ will commence construction of Veterans Plaza: a site honoring military service as a form of public service, acknowledging war’s impacts on all involved, and providing peace and quiet in the open air for everyone.

With North Bardwell Street and its two dorms to the west, the Residential Village to the north, and Garcelon Field to the southeast, the specific site sits within a grassy triangle bounded by North Bardwell and two footpaths converging on the Village.

Screened by trees, the plaza will comprise a paved space of about 1,000 square feet, with benches; a marker at the entrance; and at center a naturally sourced stone focal object, says Shelby Burgau, the Facility Services project manager in charge.

She adds, “The space will be lit at night all year long.�

The installation, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ Public Art Committee wrote in recommending the project to the college, will recognize “the contributions and sacrifice of veterans and [invite] reflection on the broader context of war and its impact on the lives and experiences of everyone affected by war.â€�

While the plaza will explicitly honor ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ veterans, the design overall is abstract and accommodating — incorporating trees and stone, secluded but inviting, useful for a variety of functions, and conducive to reflection and contemplation. 

The plaza site is well-suited to the project, Burgau points out. The annual Back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Veterans Luncheon is held nearby at the Benjamin Mays Center. There are flag poles and parking close at hand, and the site is readily accessible.

There’s also a historical connection, as the plaza site is close to the former “Sampsonvilleâ€� — the housing established by the college (and nicknamed for Charles Sampson, who administered it) for World War II veterans who were attending ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ en famille.

The Veterans Plaza focal object, Burgau says, will consist of a grouping of basalt rocks. The sides of the rocks will be left natural, imperfections intact, but the tops will be polished smooth. Text on this centerpiece will read: “This space honors the service and sacrifice of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ veterans.â€�

And text on the entrance marker will read: “Inviting reflection on the impact of war on the lives of everyone it touches.� Both inscriptions, Burgau notes, “were very thoroughly thought-through by the Veterans Recognition Project Committee.�

In fact, the finished plaza will culminate more than two years of planning informed by consultation with the college community. The design is by Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture, which previously handled the Ladd Library Plaza and Den Patio projects for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. The contractor is Carrier Landscape.

A dedication ceremony will be held when the project is complete and circumstances are once again suitable for public gatherings.

Speaking of COVID-19, it’s fair to wonder about the expense of this project in light of the pandemic’s budgetary impacts. But construction projects have been a part of the college’s financial reckonings these past several weeks. And in the case of Veterans Plaza — whose planning is already far along — it’s likely that pausing the project would cost more than moving forward with it.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about construction at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Write to dhubley@bates.edu, putting “Campus Constructionâ€� in the subject line.