By wpengine
A site has been settled on for Cornell’s office building project in downtown Ithaca. The proposed plans will use some of the building space for a hotel in addition to retail and office space. The multi-story office building will be built on the northwest corner of East Seneca St. and Tioga St., instead of the proposed location of the Tompkins County Trust Company building on the Commons. Because the size of the office building project has increased, now including a Hilton hotel, the construction site was moved. “The primary reason the building site was changed was because it was insufficient in size,” he said. “We were always looking at possible places and we found that [the Tompkins County Trust Company site] wasn’t large enough for the expanding size of the project.” Shortly after the decision to go through with the project, there was some concern that the facade of the building might look out of place in the town. Chiazza explained that the physical appearance of the project was not a factor in the decision to change building sites and would not be a problem in its new location. Several commercial buildings currently occupy the new location and would be demolished to make room for the office building, according to John Majeroni, director of the University’s real estate office. The construction of the new office building project, plans for which were announced by President Hunter R. Rawlings III in September of 2000, was a collaborative move between Cornell and the City of Ithaca to strengthen University-downtown relations. The plan is also intended to support recent economic and cultural investments, as well as stimulate new interest in the downtown area. The proposed office building had 130,000 square feet of space, containing approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space, 70,000 square feet of Cornell office space for 300 University employees, and 50,000 square feet of speculative office space that could serve an additional 200 employees. It has yet to be determined whether the project will involve one or two buildings, according to David Chiazza, vice president of development for Ciminelli Development Company, which is contracted to construct the building. The completed project, however, will still house the same number of people as originally planned. The building project will now include an independently-run urban version of the Hilton Garden Inn, equipped with a pool, restaurant and 110 rooms, according to Chiazza. “The developer found it beneficial to integrate the building plans with plans for a hotel,” explained Henrik N. Dullea ’61, vice president for University relations. Chiazza added that a precise projection for the number of hotel employees has not yet been determined. While the physical construction of the project has not yet begun, there has been continued progress in planning and administrative matters, according to Chiazza. “We’re working at a rapid speed behind the scenes,” he said. “A lot of finance and design work is still going on.” Archived article by Michael Van Wert
By wpengine
A group of about 100 students gathered in front of the Ezra Cornell statue on the Arts Quad yesterday afternoon to demand respect for minority students. Through sleet and snow the protesters marched from the Arts Quad to Ho Plaza where a series of speakers addressed the recent attacks on minority students as well as the University’s treatment of minorities in general. Rally organizers distributed a flier with the heading: “Bolted Doors, Broken Hearts, Closed Minds.” An excerpt of the literature read as follows: “Cornell fosters an environment where students of color feel unwelcome and disrespected. An enlightened academic community, which fosters progress for students of color does not exist. Cornell stands for malign[ant] neglect of its students of color.” However, some students at the rally pointed to a context of neglect that goes beyond Cornell. “I think that in a country with a history as racially scarred and tortured as this one is, there’s not very much the University can do to necessarily completely change the minds of people who have grown up in this society already,” said Kyessa Moore ’03. But the rally organizers expressed a growing discontent with the University’s commitment to programs such as Latino studies, American Indian studies, Africana studies and Asian-American studies. A coalition of students and faculty members confronted the administration last spring to seek better funding for these programs. The rally’s participants argued that until the University pays more attention to the ethnic studies programs, violence and disrespect towards minorities will continue at Cornell. Their actions come at a time when the campus is reeling from incidents that are possibly bias related. Last Saturday, two Hispanic students were chased by seven white males across part of North Campus. In an unrelated incident the same night another Hispanic student, Herbert Cortez ’02, was sprayed with pepper spray. He was arrested and charged with two counts of harassment after allegedly denying the Cornell Police access to his fraternity. According to some members of the Hispanic community, the police response was racially motivated. “When something bad happens, it is easy to dismiss it as an isolated incident,” said Lisa Wang ’02, “but that is what the administration and the CUPD want you to believe. Only last year an Asian American girl was sexually assaulted right here.” One of the rally’s organizers, Funa Maduka ’04, said that the rally “has been in the works since last semester when we decided we needed to have a rally for ethnic studies. After these events occurred, we decided we needed to have a rally about demanding respect.” “If the Cornell administration will not respect Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans, why would the rest of the community?” Kandis Gibson ’04 asked the crowd. “The same lack of funding that threatens the LSP [Latino Studies Program] and the Africana Center also threatens the African American Studies Program,” Wang said. “We want more than words. We’re sick of empty promises.” Last spring, a coalition of students confronted Provost Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin, seeking more funding for ethnic studies programs. “I met with students last year, and I agreed that the Africana Studies [and Research] Center needs to be expanded, and right now we’re in the midst of that,” Martin said. While most of the speakers seemed proud of the number of students and staff members who showed up for the rally, Alyssa Mt. Pleasant grad asked, “Where are our white allies? This is not just about us, this is about our community.” “This is not about one man, one woman, or one incident. It’s about one community, and this community needs to stand together,” added Maduka, quoting what she said has become a frequent rally slogan for the minority students on campus. The rally’s speakers worry that the University is doing too little too late. “Ask the provost,” demanded Ken Glover, director of Ujamaa. “How many Blacks had to die in order to get here.? Ask how many Native Americans had to walk the trail of tears in order to get here. Ask how many Asian Americans had to go into concentration camps in order to get that Asian Studies program. Ask how many Latinos had to work in the fields in order to get here,” Glover said. “I respect the ethnic studies programs,” Martin responded. “I think they’re vital to the academic and social well-being of the University.” Despite the verbal support from Martin, students and faculty members promise that their rallying cry will not die until their own vision for ethnic studies and campus diversity at Cornell are met. “People say we’re good at the sprint, not the long run,” said Malik Dixon ’02, “but if that were true we wouldn’t be here.” “We’ve been here since 1969,” Dixon said, referring to the historic Willard Straight Takeover that happened that year. “We are not about the sprint. Not only are we here, we’re here to stay.”Archived article by Freda Ready