Smith Hall to open in July

With construction crews from Turner and its subcontractors installing the final finishes in Smith Hall and the bridging building, Planning and Construction is making plans to begin moving the first of eleven labs into their new spaces starting the first week in July.

“Everything is on schedule for the building to be delivered as planned on June 29,” says George Candler, associate vice president for planning and construction. “Over the next several weeks, even as construction personnel are painting and finishing their work on various fixtures, Rockefeller crews will begin installing and connecting telephones and network access devices, and our architects will be going room by room to compile a punchlist of items that still need final attention from the builder.”

Inspections by the city, which are needed to secure a temporary certificate of occupancy, will also be conducted over the next several weeks. If the inspections go smoothly and work stays on schedule, furniture deliveries can begin early in the summer and labs will be moved in on a rolling basis to be completed by September.

Outside, crews have finished installing most of the 1,003 marble pavers that will make up the walkways and plaza areas leading to the bridging building’s entrance. They have also begun plumbing work for an ornamental pool that will be located near the entrance to Smith Hall, and are adding soil and grading for several berms that will give the garden depth and dimension. Ultimately, 13 trees — White Fringe, Corneliancherry dogwood, goldenrain and crabapple — 536 shrubs and 18,105 perennials, bulbs and groundcover plantings will be installed. In addition, eight crabapple trees, which were removed from near Smith Hall’s entrance and have been in storage for the past two years, will be replanted.

The landscape architecture firm responsible for the design, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, has done several high-profile projects in New York City, including a portion of the Hudson River Park in Chelsea and the entire 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park along Brooklyn’s waterfront, the first portion of which opened this spring.

Work on the second phase of the project, Flexner Hall’s renovation, will begin as soon as Flexner is emptied in late summer.