New Buildings at Allegheny College and Syracuse U., Plus an Athletics Village at RPI

Ernie Davis Hall will house 250 Syracuse U. students. (Syracuse U. photo)

Syracuse University has opened its first entirely new residence hall in over 40 years, a nine-story, $50-million facility designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects. The 140,000-square-foot building building offers single and double rooms with a total of 250 beds, as well as 2,000 square feet of academic space. Still under construction are a 500-seat dining hall and a 10,600-square-foot recreation facility. The building is named for Ernie Davis, a member of the Class of 1962 who became the first black athlete to win college football’s Heisman Trophy. Months later he was diagnosed with leukemia, and he died at age 23.

Allegheny College has opened the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts (left; Allegheny College photo), a $23-million building that offers a 250-seat theater, rehearsal space, costume and scenery shops, and video-production facilities. The 40,000-square-foot structure was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. The most unusual feature of the building, which completes the college’s arts quadrangle, is a roof garden with trees, grass, and good views of the campus.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has opened its East Campus Athletic Village (left; RPI photo), which includes a 5,200-seat stadium for football, soccer, and lacrosse, as well as a 1,200-seat basketball arena. The $92-million, 172,000-square-foot project, designed by Sasaki Associates, also houses a 4,800-square-foot exercise facility, a sports-medicine suite, coaches’ offices, meeting facilities, a cafe, a pro shop, and and the institute’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The design incorporated the existing Houston Field House, which was renovated. Designed to earn LEED silver certification, the project was planned to accommodate possible future installation of wind turbines and photovoltaic roof panels. It is the first phase of two, with the second intended to include indoor tennis courts and a track, an indoor pool, and outdoor tennis courts.