Groundbreaking for new residence hall set for Sept. 18

NEW PALTZ — SUNY New Paltz would like to invite the media, the campus community and general public to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for Lenape Hall, a 238-bed residence hall, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the former site of the women’s varsity softball field across from Esopus Hall.

The ceremony will begin with opening remarks from Interim President Steven G. Poskanzer and includes special guest speakers, state Senator John J. Bonacic of Mount Hope, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston, Village of New Paltz Mayor Thomas E. Nyquist and New Paltz Town Supervisor Don Wilen. Representatives from both the architect and construction firms will be available for questions as well as representatives from the campus facilities and planning office, residence life and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

Lenape Hall, a 59,600-square-foot building, will be air-conditioned and constructed with two types of rooms. One type will be a suite design with bedrooms located off a common living area with large bathrooms. Students will have the choice of combining bedroom space for study/living space. This design is also attractive for professional summer conferences. In addition, Lenape Hall will have many lounges, a common kitchen, a meeting room/computer lab, fully equipped exercise room and bicycle storage. It will be beautifully landscaped on a quiet site adjacent to the campus tennis courts and athletic fields.

The architect for the project is STV/Silver & Ziskind of New York City and the contractor is the Algonquin Construction Group of Beacon. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York is the source of funding for the project and will manage construction. The estimated cost for the project is $12.5 million. Estimated date of completion is January 2004.

Note to editors: If you plan to attend, please contact the Office of Public Affairs at (845) 257-3245. Members of the Dormitory Authority, construction group, architect firm and SUNY New Paltz officials will be available for comments.