By AIMEE CHO
Despite the winter weather that has been hitting Ithaca since the start of the year, Klarman Hall — the new humanities building that will be located alongside Goldwin Smith Hall — will open in 2015, according to Gary Wilhelm, project director at Cornell Planning, Design and Construction.
Now that the preparation work has been completed, workers are underpinning, or beginning to lay the foundation, for the exterior walls of Goldwin Smith Hall to allow for digging to occur underneath the walls, according to Wilhelm.
“Underpinning is the placement of the concrete under the existing footings —down to the rock — to support the building,” Wilhelm said. “This is done so that the exterior grade can be excavated below the height of the existing footings on Goldwin Smith. We’ll be digging down 25 to 30 feet below East Avenue to excavate for [Klarman Hall].”
Wilhelm said the underpinning and excavation process is expected to take about four to five months. The process will also include shoring, or supporting the area adjacent to the excavation site, so it does not collapse.
Klarman Hall will have 33,250 feet of available space and will house humanities departments when it opens in 2015. (Courtesy of Cornell University)