伊萨卡市中心会议中心, anticipated to be the first fully electrified conference center in the United States, 定于2024年4月开业.
The construction site will be closing down soon, the residential portion of the building will be finished last, 如果一切按计划进行, by summer the conference center will welcome its first large groups from out of town.
Construction update: Seeing the light at the end of the alley
The construction site will be gradually disassembled throughout the fall and the first half of the winter, 布鲁斯Adib-Yazdi, vice president of development for Vecino Group, 星期五说. Vecino Group is the development firm charged with the construction of the new building.
大, yellow tower crane that has become a fixture on Green Street will come down by the end of this week, Adib-Yazdi说. The Ithaca City Hall parking lot will then be torn up and replaced within the next four to six weeks.
The new conference center stands 11 stories tall and will feature two ballrooms, 行政会议室, 181 affordable apartments and retail space.
The goal, Adib-Yazdi说, is to have the hardscape done by the end of November or early December. He said that between Thanksgiving and Christmas people will start to see a big difference when walking through The Commons, as the scaffolding around Harold Square and the alley will come down.
Though the conference center will likely be finished by January, the living spaces will take longer to complete. 事件 cannot be held in the center until the rest of the building is done, Adib-Yazdi说.
“We cannot have people occupying the first or second floor and still be working on life safety items on the top floors, like fire alarms and the sprinkler system,他解释道.
The project was originally slated to open this fall, 但有几个因素推迟了该项目, 包括新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行. “The approvals required from the city came right in March 2020, but then the hard work of making it a reality happened during the pandemic,苏珊娜·史密斯·雅布隆斯基, executive director of Downtown Ithaca Local Development Corporation (LDC), an organization created for the purpose of operating the Downtown Ithaca Conference Center, 周三说.
The supply chain and manpower issues that have plagued construction projects nationwide in recent years, coupled with the unique architecture of the building, 聚合造成延迟.
“This project is constructed in such a way that it’s not like it’s a whole bunch of steel beams,阿迪布-亚兹迪说. The elements of the construction are not prefabricated.
“You can’t just go vertical,” Adib-Yazdi explained. “你必须在前进的过程中建立它. 这是一个非常复杂的网站.”
Because of the multiple ballrooms on the lower levels, the conference center has a wide span of free space on the first two stories. There are no columns in the ballrooms, and yet the structure still needs to support the upper floors.
“I am in awe of the constructional engineers,阿迪布-亚兹迪说. “It’s being submitted for a couple of steel construction awards because of the way they were able to build a ballroom with nine stories on top.”
The team responsible for the design is STAND Engineering of Overland Park, Kansas.
“你可以直观地看到, the summer months have been spent trying to get our building to the height it’s supposed to be, 我们的外部信封向上,阿迪布-亚兹迪说.
Workers were challenged by the “significant amount of rain” that occurred over the summer months compared to the average amount of summer rainfall normally seen in Ithaca.
“It was a struggle keeping the interior as dry as possible,阿迪布-亚兹迪说, adding that the roof was put on just a week ago.
这100美元的成本,000 million project has remained within the original budget, 阿迪布-亚兹迪说.
This is despite the fact that in 2020 and 2021 “costs were changing weekly,阿迪布-亚兹迪说.
“这非常痛苦，”他补充说. “Whether you have to change some of the design elements, or whether you have to go back and negotiate with other vendors or squeeze our subcontractors — but that’s standard, 日常程序.”
Adib-Yazdi说 the affordable housing aspect of the project is important to him. The apartments are in a variety of sizes, with a range of income requirements. He encourages people to look into applying for an apartment, even if they do not think they are eligible.
Fancy and fossil-free: Adding a clean, green kitchen
Recently the Downtown Ithaca LDC added an all-electric kitchen to the building’s plans.
This is in keeping with local Green 新 Deal goals, 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说.
“We are so proud to say this is a fossil-free conference center,”她说。, adding that it will be the first of its kind in the country to feature an all-electric kitchen, making the entire building fossil fuel-free.
The cost of upgrading the kitchen from gas to electric is projected at around $525,000, Adib-Yazdi说, but grant money secured for the project will cover that cost.
汤姆Leaonard, a chef who has experience working in electric kitchens, was brought on by ASM全球 to be the executive chef.
“So that’s a real bonus,” 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说.
ASM全球 is a venue and event management company that will manage the conference center.
“他们在世界各地经营场馆, 从会议中心到竞技场, 所以他们有丰富的经验,Smith Jablonski在谈到ASM全球时说. “Our job is to work in partnership with them to make sure the center is successful.”
本地商业利益
The Albany Capital Center and the Oncenter in Syracuse are both run by ASM全球, and the LDC looks to them as experts on comparable projects, who can provide guidance through the years. ASM’s industry knowledge and understanding of working in 新 York state works to the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center’s advantage, 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说.
The priority for bringing events to the community are midweek and multi-day conferences for out-of-town guests, 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说, but the LDC will also bring in community-based events as well.
The Downtown Ithaca Alliance commissioned two feasibility studies to determine whetherIthaca had the market to sustain such a large project and found that it did. The findings would have likely looked different two decades ago, 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说, but now that four downtown hotels have opened in recent years — Hotel Ithaca was renovated, and Ithaca Marriott Downtown on The Commons, Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca and Canopy by Hilton Ithaca Downtown all opened in recent years — the community is better equipped to host the large gatherings the conference center is designed to attract.
史密斯·雅布隆斯基说 that there are opportunities for local businesses to partner with the conference center. 例如, she noted that groups holding a conference at the center could utilize Cinemapolis to host a screen that accompanies their event.
The same goes for the State Theatre of Ithaca, 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说, and downtown restaurants such as Coltivare could also serve as an ancillary location.
“There are opportunities for partnerships with downtown retailers,” 史密斯·雅布隆斯基说. “随着会议的到来, we’ll be thinking about how to make sure that, in their free time and [when] they’re looking to do shopping and dining and spending time in the community, how do we work together to ensure the best benefit.”
It is projected that the conference center will bring in about $11.4 million in local tax revenue in the next 20 years, 佩吉·科尔曼说, vice president of tourism for the Ithaca/Tompkins 县 Convention and Visitors Bureau.
There are benefits to local businesses that have connections to large events that many people might not necessarily think of, 科尔曼说.
“我们的运营商, ASM全球, their vision is very much to source locally when it comes to food and beverages,科尔曼说。. “Farmers and producers are going to be benefiting.”
“The linens: we’ll be renting linens from local companies,” she added. “我知道，花店将从中受益.”
The Ithaca Tompkins International Airport, with its nonstop flights to and from John F. 肯尼迪和纽瓦克机场, is a major selling point for organizations considering booking the venue, and the airport will benefit from the additional business, 据科尔曼说.
史密斯·雅布隆斯基说 that the goal is for the conference center to be a positive presence within the Ithaca area.
“The entire spirit of it is that we are here to benefit the community, 所以最重要的收费是, ‘What can we do to have the greatest impact to the community?’”
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