Office of Construction Manager Collection, 1950-1980

Summary

Abstract:
This collection is made up of a variety of materials related to the construction of the UAlbany Uptown campus, Brubacher Hall, and the President's House.
Extent:
46.19 cubic ft.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Office of the Construction Manager Collection, 2017. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Office of the Construction Manager Collection).

Background

Scope and content:

The Campus Construction Collection is made up of various materials related to the design and construction of Brubacher Hall in Alumni Quad and the Uptown Campus. There are some basic plans of Brubacher Hall, including memos and correspondence. There are also materials related to the construction of what is now called the W. Averill Harriman State Office Building Campus.

The information related to the Uptown Campus takes up the majority of the collection. The materials encompassed within this section of the collection covers the entire range of the planning and execution of the construction. The records themselves come from the office of the architect, Edward Durell Stone, as well as the various construction firms Psaty and Fuhrman, Carter and Rapuano, Planetary Construction, and McManus, Longe, and Brockwell . All of these materials area gathered by Richard H. Moody, the Construction Manager employed by the SUNY Construction Fund which oversaw the day to day activities at the site.

Their papers contain reports on the progress in construction with individual buildings and aspects of the construction. There are also many change orders, requisitions, and punch lists from each construction firm. There are also monthly summaries from each construction firm as a report to the University. Included from all are blueprints of the land purchase and original golf course, plans for the State Office Campus and University at Albany Campus, as well as individual buildings, electrical and heating plans, and underground piping. There are also a long series of concrete test performed at the Pittsburgh Concrete Testing Facility where samples of the material were taken stress tested to make sure they were up to code.

The series are broken down by the buildings they are related to, such as Dormitory 1 (Dutch Quad), or Academic Group 1, which encompasses the northern half of the Podium on the Uptown Campus.

Biographical / historical:

The University at Albany has changed and expanded over time. Growth continued rapidly in the 1950s and 60s with the expansion of the Alumni Quad and the construction of the Uptown Campus. This huge expansion led to the institution gaining its university center status that it has maintained ever since.

The design for the Uptown Campus came on the heels of the purchase of a plot of land by the state for an expansion of the State Government as well as the construction of a University Center. The campus was designed by Edward Durell Stone, and was done in his signature modernist style. Construction began in 1962 and was completed in 1971. The vision of President Evan R. Collins to create a large University Center in Albany was realized through this work. Use of the campus by students began before construction was finished.

The SUNY Construction Fund was instrumental in the planning and funding of the Uptown Campus. Richard H. Moody acted as a liaison between the various firms working on the campus and the Construction Fund. He spent many years working for the Construction Fund, acting as the Construction Manager, overseeing various projects at other SUNY campuses.

Acquisition information:
All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives.
Processing information:

Processed in 2017 by Erik Stolarski.

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into series based on the building or facet of construction they pertain too. Collections contain boxed documents as well as rolled architectural drawings. The number of rolled materials have been expanded as drawings were removed from boxes. Any drawings that did not fit in with established series were placed in series 17 and cover a variety of topics including general electrical wire planning, sewage and piping, and telecommunications plans. Some drawings are very vague with titles like "miscellaneous details."

Items found in the archive pertaining to the construction of the campus have been integrated into the collection. Some items related to grading specifications were for a man named Michael Clapp whose relation to the project is unknown.

Physical location:
The materials are located onsite in the department.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Access to this record group is unrestricted.

Terms of access:

This page may contain links to digital objects. Access to these images and the technical capacity to download them does not imply permission for re-use. Digital objects may be used freely for personal reference use, referred to, or linked to from other web sites.

Researchers do not have permission to publish or disseminate material from these collections without permission from an archivist and/or the copyright holder.

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and/or by the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations. More information about U.S. Copyright is provided by the Copyright Office. Additionally, re-use may be restricted by terms of University Libraries gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks.

The University Archives are eager to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified so that appropriate information may be provided in the future.

Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Office of the Construction Manager Collection, 2017. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Office of the Construction Manager Collection).

Location of this collection:
M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives
Science Library 350
1400 Washington Ave
Albany, NY 12222, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
518-437-3933