Syracuse University’s renovation of Archbold Gymnasium to become “The Arch” is moving quickly, said Pete Sala, vice president and chief campus facilities officer.

The Arch was a main focus in Sala’s presentation on the Campus Framework held Wednesday. The Arch will be the university’s new health and wellness center, and an additional 7,000 square-feet will be added to the building. Some of the features include a training swimming pool, four new basketball courts, a rock climbing wall and other facilities for indoor sports.

“Archbold is in desperate need for renovation,” Sala said.

He added that one of the goals for the Arch is for it to be used as a green space for SU community members during the winter months.

More information and details regarding the plan for the Arch will be released in the spring 2017 semester, Sala said. Currently, SU is planning to have the project completed by August 2018.

About 40 SU community members gathered inside the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium inside Newhouse 3 for Wednesday’s Campus Framework open forum. The update was the third of six open forums that will be given in a two-month time span.

The university released the Campus Framework draft on June 20, detailing plans for the physical SU campus over the next 20 years. The Campus Framework is one of the three parts in Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Fast Forward Syracuse initiative. The other two parts are the Academic Strategic Plan and the Operational Excellence Program.

Here are some of the other Campus Framework updates Sala included in his presentation on Wednesday:

National Veterans Resource Complex

SU proposed the National Veterans Resource Complex almost one year ago in a 107-page report filed to Syverud. The NVRC would act as a hub of research and programming related to veterans and military affairs.

To make room for the NVRC, Sala said the Hoople Building between the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Marshall Street will be demolished in late October.

SHoP was chosen as the designer for the NVRC in June. SU announced Tuesday that the first outside contractor hired for the construction of the NVRC is a veteran. The complex is set to be finished in June 2019.

Sala said the university is currently working on gaining federal funding for both the NVRC and the Carrier Dome renovation projects.

Once the NVRC is built it will include a 1,000-seat auditorium, among other facilities. Sala said this new, larger auditorium will replace the smaller Grant Auditorium — which currently seats about 400 people — inside the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The Institute for Veterans and Military Families will also be housed in the NVRC once it is complete — moving from its current location inside Falk.

“The NVRC will be the only building of its kind when it goes up here at Syracuse University,” Sala said. “I think we should all be proud of that.”

He added that SU has the oldest established ROTC program in the country and approximately 1,000 students on the SU campus are “somehow tied to a veteran or tied into the veterans services at the university.”

Sala also mentioned that the NVRC would have a significant economic impact on the Syracuse area. The complex is predicted to generate $300 million in regional economic impact, produce 300 high-paying jobs and create about 7,000 jobs indirectly, according to the report given to Syverud.

Schine Student Center

The Campus Framework draft includes the Schine Student Center as part of the renovations and construction projects that will occur within the next 20 years. The draft suggests expanding Schine to include more space for student organizations and student life in general.

In the first Campus Framework open forum of the semester, Sala said the loading docks located on the back side of Schine near the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center will be removed. In Wednesday’s forum, he added that the project to remove the loading docks will take place in November.

Once the loading docks have been removed, SU will be able to extend Schine to Waverly Avenue, Sala said, which is part of the original plan detailed in the Campus Framework draft.

Promenades

In the Campus Framework draft, three promenades were proposed for the university. The University Place promenade was the first promenade to be proposed and built. The other two promenades included in the Framework are the Academic Promenade and the Waverly Avenue Promenade.

However, Sala said during Wednesday’s open forum that the Waverly Avenue Promenade should not be called a “promenade.” He said that was “poor word choice” because while Waverly Avenue will be redesigned, it will still be open to vehicular traffic unlike the other two promenades.

Accessibility improvements

Accessibility has been a constant theme throughout the Campus Framework draft and discussions surrounding the 20-year plan for the university. Sala said Diane Wiener, director of the Disability Cultural Center at SU, has been instrumental in many of these discussions.

“With Diane’s help, we’ve come a long way very fast,” Sala said of the accessibility improvements being made to the SU campus.

In addition, Sala said the university has brought in an SU alumnus who uses a wheelchair due to a physical disability to help assess how accessible the campus is. The alumnus attended SU for five years in the 1990s.

One of SU’s goals with accessibility and mobility on campus is to make a 5 percent grade change so the physical campus is more accommodating to people with disabilities.

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Three more Campus Framework open forums are planned for the months of September and October with the next one being on Sept. 26 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, located inside Newhouse 3.

Disclaimer: The Daily Orange leases a house on Ostrom Avenue owned by Syracuse University. As part of the long-term Campus Framework implementation, the university has proposed building student housing on Ostrom Avenue where The Daily Orange currently operates.

Published on September 21, 2016 at 10:31 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann