by Jason Feldman

Iona College began the transformation of its New Rochelle, N.Y., campus in June 2002 with the construction of two new residence halls.

However, getting started wasn't easy. Iona College, the project's owner, at first decided to bring in a Texas-based construction firm to do the job.

"The cost of construction is lower in Texas and unfortunately they did not take into account how much the cost of construction was in New York," said George Fountaine, director of facilities management for Iona. "Their budget was far below the cost of construction in New York. When they got their numbers back, it still did not work."

So it was back to the drawing board. Eventually, the Catholic college with an enrollment of 2,800 students that was founded by the Christian Brothers 63 years ago decided to get a bond with the Dormitory Authority State of New York and settled on the Pearl River, N.Y.-based Holt Construction Corp. as construction manager.

"One project that Holt Construction Corp. was working on - Pratt University - was close to what our project was going to be," Fountaine said. "It was in a tight spot and the logistics were not easy. It matched what we were going to do so we selected Holt."

When Holt was brought on, it had only one year to complete the residence halls.

Getting Started

The two residence halls are located on a narrow site hemmed in by other Iona facilities. The first step was to place the new structures so they would share a common entrance with an existing 10-story dormitory.

"To create the plaza, we had to site one building perpendicular to the other," said Anthony Pucillo of Anthony Pucillo, AIA, the project's architect of record.

Once the location on the site was settled, some utilities had to be cleared before work could start. "We had to move water and sewer lines on the site itself," Fountaine said. "We asked the city to do that before construction started, which they approved."

With the utilities relocated, work began on the excavation for the foundation. It was not an easy dig.

"The cellar floor slab is 2 ft. below the water table, and on top of that the building was on a sloping rock, which necessitated the construction of a mat slab to allow for uniform settlement of the building," said Robert Blum, senior project manager for Holt Construction Corp. The excavation went down 14 to15 ft. deep.

When the depth was achieved, water infiltration became the biggest problem. "What we did was install a concrete rat slab covered with waterproof 60 mill HDPE membrane," Blum said. "Then we built an asphaltic protection board over that. And then we poured an 18-in.-thick mat slab over that to form the foundation and control the hydrostatic pressure."

The waterproofing was carried up and over the foundation walls and wedded to a waterproof membrane at the top 3 ft. of the foundation.

To further prevent water infiltration a bathtub (slurry wall) was built around the perimeter of the buildings. Additionally, since bathrooms were located in the cellar level, it required the installation of pumps below the cellar floor elevations and they had to be included in the bathtub.
Because of the extra work on the foundation, the pouring of the structural concrete stretched into this year's severe winter.

To combat the cold and precipitation, "We had to provide protection and heat for the building while we poured the 7.5-in. reinforced-concrete flat-plate floor slabs and columns," Blum said.

The cold weather also would affect the strength of the concrete, so "a 6,000-psi concrete was used, which allowed us to reach our 4,000-psi strength early and allowed us to remove the shoring and forms and reshore the building and move on the next floor," he added. Blum said the team was able to achieve a five- to six-day cycle.

"This past winter was one of the most brutal in terms of temperature and snow, and even though we lost a couple of days, we are still on time and budget," Fountaine said.

Logistics Play Key Role

"Logistics would have been a nightmare if we did not plan for it," Fountaine added. "There was an existing dorm that exited right into the site. In addition, the buildings were located on two small roads and this could have led to a pedestrian problem as well as a traffic problem."

A pedestrian bridge was built from the existing dorm's entrance to the front of the campus. At the same time, Iona struck an agreement with the city to provide a police officer on campus to direct pedestrians away from the site. The city also agreed to close a parking lane on the two roads to allow for deliveries to the site.

Because of the tightness of the site, deliveries had to be carefully coordinated. Approximately 12 trades and 100 people were sometimes onsite at one time.

"You have to divide up the crew, which means you are running two separate jobs, so it was difficult keeping your eye on people," Blum said. "You have to be running up and down floors but it makes things a little more exciting."

Wrapping Up

Enclosing the twin, six-story structures will be a brick and cast-stone veneer with a backup of 6-in., 16-gauge metal studs with a dense glass vapor barrier and rigid insulation that will create an airspace between the exterior veneer and the interior metal stud wall. Topping off both buildings will be a four-ply, built-up asphalt roof with gravel poured on top.

Some artistic touches will include copper roofs over the bay windows and a false mansard running the perimeter of the main roof.

Inside the dorms will be room for 358 students to be housed in apartments that range from one to eight bedrooms. Also included in the apartments will be a kitchenette, two bathrooms and a living room.

The cellars will contain amenities such as a game room and postal services. The entry floor will consist of a community room for the general public.

Currently the project is on time with punchlist items being worked on and should be open by August. N

Iona Transformation Will Continue

While construction wraps up on the new residence halls at Iona College, more projects are projected for the New Rochelle, N.Y., campus.

"As a result of the construction of the dorms, we will lose parking spaces," said George Fountaine, the college's director of facilities management. "The city is very sensitive about us having enough spaces for the students and faculty."

To bring back the parking spaces, two buildings will be demolished to make room for an expanded parking lot. Fountaine said that funding for the dormitories and the parking lot has come from the Dormitory Authority State of New York.

"There will be more students at Iona, so we have designed a new, 40,000-sq.-ft. student center dubbed the LaPenta Student Center," he added. It will be located in the middle of the campus and will accommodate student activities as well as house a cafeteria and computer rooms.

In addition, an extension of the Hynes Athletic Center will be built for intramural sports and will house a rowing tank, basketball courts, cardio rooms, locker rooms, 15 offices, a conference room and a recreation room.

"The current facility, the Mulchahy Center, has been overrun with varsity sports," said Fountaine. In addition, he said that college coaches were working out of cubicles; now they will have 10- by 10-ft. offices.

An extension to Ryan Library is also planned. "We are going to build a two-floor wing on the backside of Ryan Library, but we don't have any floorplans yet," Fountaine said.

He said the four projects - the parking lot, Hynes Center, LaPenta Student Center and Ryan Library expansion - are presently submitted to the city of New Rochelle along with a draft environmental impact statement. "We hope to be on the planning board in May so we can get the process going," Fountaine added.

Funding for the Hynes Center, LaPenta Student Center and Ryan Library expansion is dependent on the outcome of a capital campaign. Fountaine said if all the money comes in at once, LaPenta and Hynes will be the first projects constructed.