Operation Build-Out

Projects Set to Modernize, Expand Academic Buildings at West Point

Two construction projects aim to add the first new academic building at the U.S. Military Academy in decades and expand science facilities in a $160 million push.

By Tom Nicholson

Two major construction projects are set to transform the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., into a modern campus.

Construction is well under way on Thomas Jefferson Hall Library, the first new academic building at the academy in 35 years. The expected completion next year of the new building will also help open the door for a renovation project to the nearby Bartlett Hall, which would expand that facility’s space for science study programs. Bartlett currently houses the Cadet Academic Library, which Jefferson will replace.

Both the new library and the reconfiguration of Bartlett, which is currently in the design stage, are being managed by the New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The $59 million, 148,000-sq-ft Jefferson Hall, formally known as the U.S.M.A. Library and Learning Center, is set to open in March. The project team was handling superstructure and other structural work this summer on the reinforced concrete frame building, which also has steel elements, says Tim Cain, project engineer with the New York District of the corps, who monitors J. Kokolakis Contracting of Rocky Point, N.Y., the contractor.

“[The] structural concrete [is] completed and the majority of the building enclosed,” he adds. “We are also now working on the building’s granite skin façade.”

Located in the central Cadet Academic Zone of the campus, Jefferson Hall will have molded reinforced concrete arches and columns, as well as tall rows of windows, that together help strike a balance between the traditional and the modern, says Price Jepsen, project manager for STV Inc., the building’s New York-based architect.

STV designed the project with Holzman Moss of New York, its associate architect, after a comprehensive study and programming phase that included a site selection process narrowing from 19 potential sites at the academy, Jepsen says.

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The design team tried to capture the “collegiate gothic” style of architecture prevalent at the historic academy, “but still celebrate the fact that it’s a new building,” Jepsen says. “It’s not something we took lightly.”

One of the building’s important stylistic features is reinforced concrete formwork, Jepsen says. 

“The entranceway design had to aesthetically project both the history and future of the academy,” he adds. 

The entranceway features two vertical column arch forms spanning 25 ft across, evoking archwork and columns throughout the academy. Roger & Sons Concrete of LaGrangeville, N.Y., handled concrete fabricating, formwork, and finishing, while Ceco Concrete Construction of Gladstone, Mo., built molded fiberglass formwork for the 25-ft arch.

Academy officials also wanted the new six-floor Jefferson Hall building to be outfitted with the latest technology, Jepsen says. The existing library facility within Bartlett is more than 40 years old.

“The new library will include a model classroom where new communications technologies can be tried out and a lab that can be outfitted with experimental computer technology,” Jepsen adds.

Another programmatic goal was including expanded meeting space to serve as collaborative areas. Jepsen says the design team was involved in research for the building’s design for a full year before starting its work, particularly to accommodate the group-oriented cadet environment, which differs from campuses where students move around more independently.

“Cadets are highly scheduled and move around the campus more in groups than you would see on a typical campus, so the library had to be designed for that,” he adds. “[We’re putting] more seats within the facility and designing larger doors than would typically be needed at a non-military campus.”

Cain says the biggest challenge on the job so far is complying with the federal government’s requirement to use metric measurements on construction projects.

“We have to convert everything,” he adds. “It takes time, and we have to be careful because sometimes the measurements can be a little off.”

Another departure from typical higher education campus construction is the need to comply with the higher security requirements that the Army sets, says Nick Leo, vice president at J. Kokolakis.

“There is a checkpoint, and our trucks are inspected when they come in, but other than that it’s like any other job >> where you do construction while the place is still in operation,” he says.

The new building will seem small in comparison to the next project, the $100 million renovation of Bartlett Hall. Design work on the Bartlett project is progressing, says Randy Kirschner, project manager for San Francisco-based URS Corp., which is architect on the job. The corps has not yet selected a contractor.

Construction on the project, scheduled to begin in 2009 and end in 2013, will modernize the 321,000-sq-ft complex. The Bartlett building and Cadet Library are actually adjoined structures built at separate times, but once the library moves into the completed Jefferson Hall next year, the Bartlett complex will be devoted to the academy’s science study programs.

The renovation of the old library space in particular will help to expand the existing science facilities at Bartlett, which will house teaching and research laboratories for chemistry, biology, physics, and photonics, Kirschner says. The planned improvements also entail seismic retrofitting; asbestos abatement; blast-force protection upgrades for windows; and build-out of facilities for chemical imaging, exhaust, and a chilled-water recirculation system for the laser labs. 

The project team will also have to manage  the Bartlett renovation while portions of the building remain in use, with shuffling of classes and construction over several phases.

Key Players

Jefferson Hall Library

Owner: U.S. Military Academy

Program Manager: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-N.Y. District

Contractor: J. Kokolakis Contracting, Rocky Point, N.Y.

Architect: STV Inc., New York; Holzman Moss, New York

Concrete: Roger & Sons Concrete, LaGrangeville, N.Y.

Special Formwork: Ceco Concrete Construction, Gladstone, Mo.

Bartlett Hall

Owner: U.S. Military Academy

Program Manager: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-N.Y. District

Architect: URS Corp., San Francisco