The Coyne Science Center is noticeably different than it was a year ago after going under extensive renovations and expansions last May. The building will continue to undergo more changes over the upcoming semesters.
As the Le Moyne student body left campus after finals week in May, contractors, including carpenters from Sherman Construction, electricians from Ridley Electric, Woodcock & Armani plumbers and fire and safety systems by ABJ Fire Protection, piled in to the 19,000 square foot building to start in on the $9.1 million dollar renovation. These teams were followed by painters, casework manufacturers and the Flower City Glass Company for windows. All of these companies and workers were carefully orchestrated by Pioneer Companies, the project manager. They worked in full collaboration with Le Moyne’s in-house Facilities Planning and Management leadership team.
According to Roger Stackpoole, Vice President for Finance and Administration, the coordination of the workers during the 13-16 week period was quite the feat.
“We arguably broke records for the number of contractors working on the Coyne building,” he stated. “We are exceptionally grateful for the expertise and extraordinary service of these contractors on this complex project.”
The old Coyne building is now improved with state of the art features along the lines of updated classrooms, new laboratory fume hoods and upgraded utilities such as the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system, the chilled beam system and the building’s extension to the new science addition. The water main that was shared between Nelligan and Coyne was also eliminated so that the two buildings are now independent of each other.
In the design process, the new science center and the Coyne renovations were conceived as a single project with the entire science faculty being involved in the planning. They communicated their needs and suggestions to Ashley McGraw Architects, a Syracuse firm, and the laboratory design consultant. Alongside Stackpoole, the steering committee and design team included Provost Linda LeMura, AVP for Facilities, Jed Schneider, and Jim Dishaw, Senior Director of Facilities, Dr. David Voorhees, computer science professor, Dr. David Smith, biology professor, and the Department chairs.
Unlike other campus renovations, no separate fundraising campaign has been launched for the Coyne Science Center. It relies on donations given to the college as a whole, which is then funneled into the project. As a result, there are funding constraints, so no official completion date for the Coyne building has been announced.
