CCNY EMBARKS UPON $300 MILLION-PLUS EXPANSION

NB: A friend just send me this press release which of course CCNY never deemed necessary to share with CB9M just as they did not deemed necessary to bring their projects to the Board for community recommendations.

One would think that after three and a half years Dr. Gregory H. Williams, President of The City Collegeof New York would know and appreciate that his campus is located right smack in and is a part of Community Board 9 Manhattan, apparently he never got the word or read the City Charter that mandates that all City agencies and dependencies consult their Community Boards with any plans that will affect the community as these plans will.

I suppose he will also be highly surprised when out of necessity CCNY has to appear before CB9M for approvals, concurrances and recommendations about some of these projects and find that the community is not as receptive to them as he may think. JRM

For immediate release

Contact: Mary Lou Edmondson, (212) 650-7808
edmondson@ccny.cuny.edu

Ellis Simon, (212) 650-6460
esimon@ccny.cuny.edu


CCNY EMBARKS UPON $300 MILLION-PLUS EXPANSION

- State Legislature Approves Funding for New Science, Architecture
Facilities -

NEW YORK, February 10, 2005 - An era of new construction, including
three state-funded projects totaling more than $285 million, is about to
get underway at The City College of New York (CCNY). The efforts will
lead to creation of a major science education and research center
located in Harlem and a new home for CCNY's School of Architecture,
Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. The projects included in the
five-year state capital spending budget are in addition to ongoing
renovations at CCNY to the Robert E. Marshak Science Building and other
facilities as well as a dormitory to be built using private funds.

"We are grateful to Gov. Pataki, the State Legislature and the CUNY
administration for their strong commitment to The City College's
growth," said Dr. Gregory H. Williams, President of The City College
of New York, in announcing the projects. "When I arrived at the
College three-and-a-half years ago, I was frankly concerned about
conditions in some of our buildings and laboratories. At the same time
that we increased enrollment, raised academic standards and saw the
amount of funded research triple, we were able to work with receptive
elected officials to guarantee that our facilities will support and
expand these accomplishments. This funding will ensure that we will
become a center for advanced scientific and engineering research in New
York State, and field the most exciting public school of architecture on
the East Coast."

Major expansions at The City College include:

A new, 55,000 square-foot (Phase I) building for the CCNY Science
Division, budgeted at $60 million. The design phase will take place
during the 2004 - 2005 fiscal year, with construction to begin in the
2006 - 2007 fiscal year and to be completed by 2009.

A 190,000 gross square-foot (Phase I) new CUNY science facility, which
will house additional science laboratories for the University's top
researchers. Design is slated to begin in January 2005 with completion
of the building scheduled for 2010. Total cost of the project is
estimated at $176 million and it is fully funded in the five-year
capital budget covering 2004 - 2009.

Conversion of 79,316 net assignable square feet of space in the "Y"
Building on the CCNY campus into a new, $58.6 million home for the
School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture,
designed by Rafael Vinoly with state-of-the-art environmental features.
The budget includes $53.1 million for construction and equipment. The
state previously funded $5.1 million for the design phase.

The new science facilities will house many of the programs now at
Marshak, which has been CCNY's primary science building for over 30
years. The Division of Science has outgrown Marshak due to increased
research activity: when it was built, funded research in Marshak
amounted to less than $1,000,000; last year CCNY faculty brought in $43
million in grants and funded projects. Because its low floor-to-floor
height impedes adequate placement of exhaust and ventilation systems, it
was concluded that Marshak could not be renovated for long-term use as a
research facility.

Long-range plans call for Marshak to house instructional laboratories,
faculty offices, select research spaces, a science library for both
CCNY's Division of the Sciences and the Sophie Davis School of
Biomedical Education and 42,000 square feet of classroom and computer
study space. This will allow CCNY to convert inadequate classroom space
elsewhere on campus to more appropriate functions.

Since 1999, more than $21 million has been invested to upgrade
Marshak's boilers, install hot water circulation pumps,
rehabilitate fuel tanks and improve its laboratory facilities. More
than $33 million has been earmarked between now and 2006 for projects at
Marshak that include roof rehabilitation, facade work, new HVAC systems
and upgraded fume hoods and fans. The capital budget also included $10
million in FY 2008-2009 for design work on Marshak's rehabilitation.


The new facility for the School of Architecture, Urban Design and
Landscape Architecture will include classroom space, design studios,
faculty and administrative offices and student/faculty lounges. It will
allow the school, which is currently on three different floors in
Shepard Hall, to deliver its entire instructional program in
state-of-the-art facilities from one location and give the school a more
visible presence on campus.

Other projects underway at CCNY include exterior and interior
renovations to the Shepard, Baskerville and Compton-Goethals buildings
on the English Gothic quad. In addition, the CUNY Board of Trustees has
approving leasing land on The City College campus for construction of a
privately funded 600-bed residence hall with an estimated cost of $50
million.

About The City College of New York
For over 157 years, The City College of New York has provided low-cost,
high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines.
Over 12,200 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the
College of Liberal Arts and Science, the School of Education, the School
of Architecture, the School of Engineering, and the Sophie Davis School
of Biomedical Education.

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/pr/news/2005/02/ellis050214.htm