Bus Depot Going Green

New York City Transit has named Tishman Construction Corporation, in a joint venture with The Washington Group, as construction manager for its new Grand Avenue bus depot and maintenance facility in Maspeth, Queens.

The project will incorporate the latest in green design elements and systems. The $150 million, 500,000-sq.-ft. facility will rise three stories above grade, with the first floor providing space for fueling, cleaning, and in-door storage of 200 buses. The second floor will house a central maintenance facility, which can accommodate approximately 27 buses undergoing major repairs or scheduled overhauls, while office space for NYC Transit's Department of Buses will occupy the top floor.

The project is expected to break ground in the third quarter of 2003 with a construction timetable of 28 months.

WASA Designs Cancer Center

Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP of New York, N.Y. designed the reconstructed Derald H. Ruttenberg Cancer Treatment Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

WASA developed the design for the $3.4 million renovation of the 20,000-sq.-ft. facility located at Fifth Avenue and 100th Street in New York, N.Y.

WASA's design premise for the entire project was to create a peaceful and serene environment that would provide a nurturing space for patients and family members. It combines advanced technology with a comforting interior environment that complements the healing process.

Downtown Westfield Project Being Designed

Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners of Lambertville, N.J. are beginning the construction drawing phase of the Westfield redevelopment project, a mixed use residential and retail project in Westfield, N.J.

Developer HKT Nassau Associates was recently selected by the Westfield Township Council to redevelop the downtown area. The project involves three parcels, one facing Prospect Street, one facing Elm Street and one along South Ave.

Other firms working on the project are Morris & Ritchie Associates Inc. of Annapolis Junction, Md. which is designing the parking deck and the landscaped square and Edwards & Kelcey of Morristown, N.J. which is providing site and civil engineering services.

Transportation Projects under Design

Sowinski Sullivan Architects, P.C. of Sparta, N.J. has been awarded two contracts from Metro-North New York Railroad, one to design a new intermodal transportation center at its North White Plains railroad station and another to design improvements to eight railroad stations on its Lower Harlem line.

The new hub, located in the Greenburg section of White Plains, will combine a new railroad station, a 2,000-space parking garage and a commercial development, while integrating the new facility with a new bus station and a connection to the adjacent Bronx River Park. The project is anticipated to take approximately five years to complete and construction costs will be $40 to $50 million.

The eight stations undergoing improvements are Fordham, Botanical Gardens, Tuckahoe, Fleetwood, Melrose (Yankee Stadium), Tremont, Woodlawn and Crestwood. The improvements range from new station access to restoration of the historic station buildings.

Court Building Façade to be Restored

Swanke Hayden Connell Architects is designing a façade restoration program for the Manhattan Criminal Courts building at 100 Centre in New York, N.Y.

The building façade suffers from deferred maintenance. Breaches in the building envelope, particularly at parapets and deteriorated mortar joints, has led to serious water infiltration, causing corrosion of stone anchors that is exacerbated by the freeze/thaw movement of trapped moisture. As a result, the stone façade materials exhibit displaced units and a conspicuous pattern of cracks and spalls at the corner of units.

Construction will be performed in two phases. Phase I will address unsafe conditions and is set to begin before the end of 2003. Phase 2 will restore the balance of the exterior and is currently out for bid. Work is expected to be completed by 2005.