Men (still) at work: renovations drag on

By Ewan MacDougall

In late August, a letter from Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, and Master Steven Smith reminded Branford students of the improvements that were being made to their home away from home. That same letter also offered an assessment of the timetable for construction that dashed their optimistic hopes. While all dorm rooms would be ready and waiting for students to return, public spaces such as the common room, dining hall and TV room—crucial features of the residential college system—would require another few months of work.

DAVID GEST/YH Stone arches overlook the makeshift construction ribbon in the Branford courtyard.

Smith cited a number of reasons for the delay. "There's no one cause. First of all, there was a sense that the construction company wasn't getting the job done," he wrote. "Secondly, there were some difficulties uncovered within the college that were more serious than anticipated."

The complications included the discovery of asbestos, lead paint, and other hazardous materials in the ceilings and roof. "I'm very, very frustrated," Smith said of the project in a recent interview. He continued, "People should be held accountable."

Of all the setbacks, students most acutely feel the glaring absence of the dining hall. Because it has not been completed, a tent has been set up in the Great Courtyard to provide continental breakfast daily as well as dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "An outside dining hall is ridi-culous," Alex Jean, BR '03, said. Pete Walker, BR '03, Vice-President of the Branford College Council, added, "In a way, we're not an official college until we have a dining hall."

The leaning tower of...Wrexham

Comparisons with Berkeley, the last college to be renovated, shed some light on the renovation process. Berkeley had its share of delays, Larry Regan, the Senior Architect of Yale Facilites, said, "Some public rooms were a month late, and mispainting and checking mistakes took up more time." Still, Berkeley was much nearer to completion on opening day.

It was the structural disparity between the two colleges which proved especially significant. Arch Currie, Director of Project Management, explained that one trouble spot for Branford was the seven-story Wrexham Tower, which contains the dining hall's servery. Initially, because of its inconvenient location, the tower's chimney was to be removed. This would unclog the floor plan and facilitate traffic for the building crew. But as work began, the builders discoved a bizarre architectural anomaly: the chimney supported the entire tower. This meant a major change in strategy for its safe removal. "It took months to work out a plan for Wrexham that would prevent its collapse," Kemel Dawkins, the Associate Vice President of Facilities, said.

A poorly-documented renovation of Branford in the mid-'30s caused more unforeseen problems. Inaccurate drawings of the floor plan that remained from the earlier project left planners misinformed about the college's configuration. What resulted, Currie said, was a "surprise construction that simply couldn't be known of until the walls were opened up."

In addition to the prospect of crashing towers and bumbling architects from decades past, workers also faced the issue of sheer size. Originally built as dorms, the Branford-Saybrook building was remade into two colleges with Master's houses and activity rooms. On its own, the Branford side of the complex is 25 percent bigger than Berkeley. Moreover, it has had more time to age: built between 1917-1921, Branford is roughly 14 years older than Berkeley. "The differences between the two colleges are dramatic," Currie said.

Markets swell, workers slack

If Branford's quirks troubled workers, the workers' response didn't help the situation. "The contractors are difficult to work with," Smith, whose house has yet to be restored to a livable condition, said. "It was also difficult to get added workers in a boom economy, when there aren't people to be had. Still, there was a sense that they weren't moving quickly or resolutely." Currie agreed, saying, "It was a very tough job, and I don't want to dramatize anything. But they seemed to have trouble uncovering and handling the surprises on time."

DAVID GEST/YH The completed parts of the newly renovated Branford look great, but there's still much work to be done.

Regan, however, acknowledged the magnitude of any college renovation. "We're trying to do what you would hopefully have 24 months to do in a 14 to 15 month period, and in a hot market. Without enough skilled people to load up jobs, there are going to be problems with building deadlines." Smith added, "Unless people see it from the inside, its difficult to really understand how large a project this is."

Thy neighbor's construction crew

Given the massive delays, many feared repercussions for Saybrook College, next in line for renovation.

In response to concerns, Branford's construction company, Barclay White, was replaced by Fusco for the university's next project. "We wanted a team unencumbered by the Branford problems to work on Saybrook, so Barclay White could devote its full attention to Branford," Dawkins said. Saybrook administrators, for their part, remained hopeful that their college would not meet the same fate as its predecessor. "I am sure that the University is doing everything in its power to learn from the Branford experience," Mary Miller, Master of Saybrook College, said. "But I think it would be premature to draw conclusions about Saybrook from Branford."

There have also been steps to change the scheduling of college renovations as a whole. "From now on, we'll plan a 15-month schedule," Dawkins said. He is also considering doing more work over the summer and plans to start work on portions of the colleges without closing them. "It's in order to get a head start," he said. J. Lloyd Suttle, Associate Provost, mentioned the option of smaller projects to replace the huge overhauls which had been planned. He said that such a change would not affect the quality of the job. "When we do it, we want to do it right without cutting corners. And if it's not feasible, we'll back up and reconsider."

A more perfect...dining hall

All involved in the renovations emphasized putting the projects in perspective. "We've never done anything on this scale before," Suttle said. "As we go along we're getting better with planning, construction, and design." Dawkins added, "Berkeley, Branford, Saybrook, and Timothy Dwight had the most needs. That's why they're first. The other colleges won't require quite the overhaul of the first four."

He also defended the Branford renovations themselves. "Branford is truly spectacular. It went from having the worst common room on campus to the best, and added the best buttery. There's a veritable underground village, and on the surface the courtyard is gorgeous." Branford students, too, generally appreciate the improvements. Walker concluded, "Obviously I'd really like a dining hall. But it would just be the crowning achievement of an already awesome, incredible college."

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