Student Life Center Construction Resumes

12/02/2014 

Construction has resumed on the new Student Life Center following an explosion last week that injured three workers and extensively damaged the building.

The extent of the wreckage is still being assessed, and it is not yet known if it will delay the planned opening of the $56 million facility at the start of the spring semester, according to Rob Shutts, interim co-director of the College’s Facilities Planning, Design and Construction Office.

The natural gas explosion occurred in an emergency generator room on the Pashley Drive side of the 150,000-square-foot building shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The blast knocked out a large, louvered vent on the side of the building and damaged walls, doors and ceilings.

Three contractors were injured and taken to SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. Two of them, contractors with Louis N. Picciano and Son Inc., were admitted to the hospital and released the next day. The third, an employee of Matco Electric, was not admitted overnight.

The exact cause of the blast is still under investigation.

The visually striking, high-ceiling building has been under construction on the site of the former Carl "Chugger" Davis Football Field since 2012. When completed, it will offer dozens of student recreational and social activities under a single roof.