What's New With Wold

By Benjamin Engle

In the coming weeks, physical construction will commence on Union College's Peter Irving Wold Science and Engineering Center, an $18 million, 35,000 square foot state-of-the-art addition to house the College's science and interdisciplinary programs.

The Center will house Biochemistry, Environmental Science and Engineering, a high performance computer lab, state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, and flexible incubator labs for Electrical Engineering & Music research.

Additionally, the three-story building will house a rooftop renewable energy lab dedicated display areas to showcase student and faculty research.

The Wold Center, which will be located in the area between Science and Engineering, the F.W. Olin Center, Schaffer Library, and Social Sciences (the future Lippman Hall), will be using a portion of a gift by John Wold '38 and his wife Jane in 2002, the largest alumni gift in Union history.

Wold is a former U.S. Congressman and is a geologist and the president of Wold Minerals Company. The building will be named for his father, Peter Wold, who was a professor at Union in the physics department.

The first signs of construction will begin after ReUnion weekend during the week of June 1 with the erection of a fence around the construction site. According to Doug Klein, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies, the fence will close the entire area between Schaffer Library and the Olin Center, including the walkway to Alumni Gymnasium.

The entrances to Science and Engineering that face the Library and Gym will be closed to the public; however, the main entrance to the Gym will continue to be accessible.

Additionally, the tunnel connecting the Olin Building to the Science and Engineering Building will continue to open and Klein believes it will become the main thru-way to Science and Engineering.

Construction trailers and the staging area for supplies will be located on the grassy area behind the Gym at the intersection of Alexander Lane and South Lane. While trucks will be using Alexander Lane for access to the construction site, the road will be open throughout the building process.

According to Dean Klein, the overall project, which is scheduled to finish in winter 2011, is approximately two weeks behind schedule. However, according to Klein being behind is nothing to worry about.

"With a project of this size, being a few weeks behind the original schedule is fine," Klein said.
During the past few months, architects (Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott) have been finalizing plans for the building. Klein stated that the project is within budget that has been set with the architects, though that was not always the case.

"Early in the process, we weren't on budget," Klein said. "We had to make compromises, though none were programmatic and we didn't lose any square footage. Since the original plans, the architects took away some windows to lower costs."

However, the design committee and architects are still committed to designing the building to achieve LEED Gold status from the U.S. Green Building Council.

"We are continuing to expand the use of alternative energy in the building," Klein explained.
Klein expects finalization of sustainability plans in the near future, though according to the Wold Construction website, the building will include metering equipment for electric, chilled water and steam, waterless urinals and dual flush water closets, the use of materials that will reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous and harmful to occupants, as well as other environmentally friendly initiatives.

While the architects are still working on the final drawings for the Center, the bidding phases are underway.

"There are three bidding phases," explained Klein. "The first phase was utilities and relocation, which already happened. We are about to open the bidding for the foundation and steel contract and the building construction call for bids will take place in the middle of the summer."
Major work with utilities and relocation of utilities will begin between ReUnion weekend and Commencement. In addition, the foundation for the Wold Center is scheduled to be complete by January 1, 2010.

While construction will end daily around 3 p.m., Klein ensures that the disruption to classes will be minimized.

"We are working with contractors to make sure construction sounds will be kept to a minimum during exam weeks," Klein said.

Updates and more information about the construction process can be found at http://www.union.edu/Campus/wold/index.php

Originally published in Union's Concordy on 5/28/09