UTICA — An Albany–based firm is preparing to conduct a study on the “potential repurposing” of the existing facilities of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS).

MVHS and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties have selected CHA Consulting, Inc. to handle the work. CHA is an engineering-consulting firm that is headquartered in the Capital District, but also has an office in Syracuse.

The study will begin “in the next few weeks,” MVHS said in a news release. The repurposing project will look at the potential reuse of the three main MVHS campuses — which include St. Luke’s, St. Elizabeth, and Faxton — as MVHS develops a new downtown Utica health-care campus.

Based on prior assessments, MVHS has indicated the Faxton campus will likely remain open. It provides services that include cancer treatment and outpatient rehabilitation.

MVHS noted that it will include Faxton in the study to “ensure that keeping it open best meets the needs of MVHS and the community.” 

“Since we announced the new [downtown Utica] hospital project, one of the main questions from the community has been ‘what will happen to the old facilities,’” Robert Scholefield, executive VP/COO of MVHS, said in the release. “An important component of the study will involve community input. I see this as a vital piece of the study as it provides those who live near the current facilities the ability to provide input as to how the old buildings should be used. I’m excited for this study to begin so we can start to gain a better idea of how the old buildings can be used once we move to the new facility.”

CHA’s scope of services for the study involves five “broad” components for the three MVHS campuses. They include market research and analysis; zoning analysis; hazardous-material assessment; preliminary conditions assessment; and redevelopment-scenario analysis. 

Incorporating these components into the repurposing project will help MVHS develop a plan for the facilities that “fits in” with the long-term development plans of the surrounding municipalities and allows the facilities to become “positive economic contributors to the area,” the organization said.

Joseph Wicks, special projects manager at the Community Foundation, said, “This study is critical to identifying the best opportunities for reusing those properties and enhancing their neighborhoods. We look forward to supporting this effort and engaging with community residents and other partners, throughout the course of the study and beyond.” 

CANTON — Renovation work on St. Lawrence University’s Appleton Arena will start “this spring” following the conclusion of the current hockey season, the university announced in late January.

St. Lawrence University has chosen Northland Associates Inc. of Clay as the construction manager for the upcoming project.

Northland Associates has previously worked on other projects at St. Lawrence, including the Johnson Hall of Science, Kirk Douglas Hall, Peterson-Kermani Performance Hall, and Sullivan Student Center, the university said in a release.

St. Lawrence hopes to have this phase of the project complete by the start of the 2019-20 college hockey season, Ryan Deuel, the university’s director of media relations and strategic communications, said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

The renovations will provide St. Lawrence’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs with a “superior” athletic facility, the school contends. 

A second phase of the project will also expand Appleton Arena to support the Saints’ NCAA Division III men and women’s lacrosse, field hockey, softball and the men and women’s rowing teams. That portion of the renovation will begin as additional fundraising is completed.

A little more than one year ago, St. Lawrence embarked on a study of Appleton Arena to “enhance the appeal” of the facility for both athletes and the fans. 

It selected HOK, an architectural firm for designing sports venues, to conduct the study. HOK delivered its findings to the school’s steering, planning, and oversight committee as well as its campus user group in the fall. The firm also handled the design work for the project, Deuel said.

First opened in 1951, Appleton Arena is regarded as one of St. Lawrence University’s “significant heritage facilities.” 

Improvements will include a new entrance, widening concourses, expanding concessions, additional social spaces including the Legends of Appleton room, and improving both broadcast and live-streaming technologies. 

It will also include a strength and conditioning center named in memory of 1974 graduate Michael “Buddy” Cornacchia, who died in 2014.

“The character of Appleton Arena has aged over the years like a finely crafted historical home. In the NCAA Division I ice hockey world, it shares the comparable essence of Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. And like those beloved landmarks, renewed in every generation, it needs a timely upgrade,” St. Lawrence University President William L. Fox said in the release. “As one of St. Lawrence’s venerable and distinctive structures, Appleton is the ‘rink of dreams’ for North Country youth and the ‘forever home’ of St. Lawrence hockey. And that’s why this project, envisioned by generous Laurentian families, is so important to our University’s sense of pride and tradition.”

Donor-funded

Two major financial commitments secured last summer as part of the Campaign for Every Laurentian “put the project in motion,” the university said. They included a $10 million donation from 1974 alumnus Tom Dolan and the Dolan Family Foundation.

In addition, the Torrey and MacAllaster families — in memory of William A. (Bill) Torrey Sr. — provided a $1.5 million donation. Since then, St. Lawrence has secured additional “major” gifts, raising close to $17 million to date for the completely donor-funded Appleton-renovation project.

The Appleton Arena project is supported by The Campaign for Every Laurentian, “the largest comprehensive fundraising initiative in the more than 160-year history of St. Lawrence University.” With a fundraising goal of $225 million, the effort will support four priorities: “Endowing Our Future, Learning for the 21st Century, the Power of Connections, and Campus Stewardship as well as continued support for the St. Lawrence Fund,” the school said.