UPDATED: Sept. 12, 2019 at 1:35 p.m.

Live cameras show work at the Carrier Dome in an endless feed as giant cranes loom over campus. Signs around the National Veterans Resource Center encourage passersby to learn about its mission. Campus-wide emails have provided updates about renovations to Archbold Gymnasium and the Schine Student Center.

Syracuse University wants people to know about its construction. 

But, on the edge of campus, one project hasn’t been promoted at all. Construction vehicles demolished five buildings on the 700 block of Ostrom Avenue in the past two weeks. The block sits between Shaw and DellPlain Halls and faces the University Neighborhood. 

Pete Sala, vice president and chief facilities officer, has never mentioned the demolition work in his regular email updates on campus construction. The Ostrom demolitions are missing from the SU website that lists construction projects across campus. The website includes ion metering repairs and water pipe replacements, plus major construction projects like Schine and the Dome.

Green tarp covers the fences surrounding the Ostrom demolition sites. No signs, website or livestream. Nothing identifies the purpose or timeline of the work. 

Unlike the Ostrom Avenue construction site, fencing around the National Veterans Resource Center clearly promotes the building’s purpose and construction timeline. Elizabeth Billman | Asst. Photo Editor

The university owns the five demolished properties and four that still remain on the block. All were vacant by the beginning of the fall 2019 semester, except for The Daily Orange. The block was previously home to the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, LGBT Resource Center, Student Legal Services, Off-Campus and Commuter Services, an autism research lab and three apartments. 

Lambda and the SU offices have relocated due to the construction. The D.O. is expected to soon follow.

In 2017, the 700 block was identified in SU’s Campus Framework plan, a 20-year master plan for construction, as a possible site for the expansion of student housing. A map SU included in the framework report shows two buildings on the block, between Shall and DellPlain. 

Amir Rahnamay-Azar, SU’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement to The D.O. that the university hasn’t made any decisions about building dorms. 

“The Campus Framework identified the 700 block of Ostrom Avenue as an area with potential for development of student housing, however, no decisions will be made regarding the construction of new student housing until the review is complete,” Rahnamay-Azar said.

Scanlon Trucking, a Marcellus-based company, has received demolition permits for all but two of the 700 block properties owned by SU, according to records obtained by The D.O. Those buildings are the former Student Legal Services office at 760 Ostrom Ave. and The D.O. at 744 Ostrom Ave. In total, Scanlon estimated the cost of the demolition as $100,000. The two remaining properties for which permits have been filed, 750 and 754 Ostrom Ave., are set to be torn down by Nov. 30 at the latest.

The university announced in a July press release that it would be conducting a review of student housing throughout the 2019-20 academic year. The release cites SU’s plans to relocate housing from South Campus to Main Campus, a recommendation from the Campus Framework. University officials previously said living on campus improves academic performance and student retention.

About 2,500 students live in apartments on South Campus. The university operates 18 dorms on Main Campus, housing about 5,900 students. SU plans to slowly relocate first- and second-year housing on South — about 30% of beds — to Main. 

Transitioning the student population from South to Main would likely require construction of new residence halls. Even SU’s most-populated dorm, Day Hall, only houses about 615 students on eight floors. It’s unclear what percent of South residents are first- and second-year students. 

The Framework also details the possibility of a three-year housing requirement, leaving South as a possible site for third-year housing if the policy is enacted. University officials haven’t announced whether they’ve made a decision on that policy, either.

Ernie Davis Hall, SU’s newest dorm, opened in 2009 with the cost of construction totaling about $54 million. The oldest dorm, Washington Arms, was built in 1928. A majority of SU dorms were built in the 50s and 60s and underwent major renovations in the 80s and 90s, according to university archives.

Between 2009 and 2018, SU’s student enrollment rose from 19,400 to 22,803. That number includes undergraduate and graduate students. Ernie Davis was the only new dorm construction in that time. It houses 250 students. 

Rahnamay-Azar said the housing review will be guided by input from students and the “benchmarking analysis of peer institutions,” among other things. He leads the university’s Division of Business, Finance and Administrative Services, placing him on the chancellor’s Executive Team. 

His strategic plan for the division involves advancing SU’s real estate strategy, in part by evaluating student housing and implementing a strategic sourcing and acquisition plan, according to the BFAS website. 

SU has already begun the student input aspect of the housing review. Campus-wide emails sent last week asked students to join focus groups and share their opinions about campus housing. Consultants from the firm Brailsford & Dunlavey visited campus on Monday and Tuesday to speak with students. 

Denise Dowdall, executive assistant to the vice president for the student experience, said in an email that it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for a reporter to sit in during one of the focus groups. Dowdall said consultants from Brailsford & Dunlavey would be asking students about their opinions. There will be a survey sent out to the student body in the coming weeks with similar questions, she said. 

The university hired Brailsford & Dunlavey in 2006 to conduct an assessment of its recreation facilities, according to the firm’s website. Interviews with administrators and students from that review revealed “dissatisfaction with the recreation facilities’ congestion, architectural quality and aesthetics, and infrastructure.” 

The firm recommended SU create a new facility with basketball gyms, weight and fitness areas, multipurpose rooms, lap and leisure pools, a climbing wall, an indoor jogging track, a wellness center and other spaces. The Arch fits that description almost perfectly. 

Brailsford & Dunlavey has worked with most of SU’s 23 peer institutions, including schools like Cornell University and Boston College. Cornell and Marquette University, another peer institution, hired the firm to develop a long-term strategic plan for improving student housing. 

SU spent three years developing the Campus Framework before it was released in 2017. Two years later, the university hasn’t announced where or when it plans to build new dorms. The current housing review is expected to occur within the current academic year. In the meantime, work continues on Ostrom Avenue, where the university has made one decision: demolition. 

-Asst. News Editors Emma Folts and Gabe Stern contributed reporting to this article.

This post was updated with additional reporting.

Published on September 12, 2019 at 1:04 am

Contact Casey: [email protected] | @caseydarnell_