By Antonina Tortorello
Buzzing, beeping and hammering are just a few sounds that students may hear while living on the north side of the SUNY Brockport campus.
These consistent noises come from construction started last year. The “North Campus Revitalization Project” began in November of 2020 and has had a major impact on the campus community.
The project will create new ways to travel around the campus, add greenery to enhance the appearance of the college and make improvements to campus infrastructure. The 26.8 million dollar project is expected to take two years. The construction is in phase two of a two-part plan. Phase one replaced an aged water sewer and a few storm drainage systems; Phase two is doing similar work, plus more work on aesthetics in different areas.
This is a hefty project that plans to change a lot so many hours are put in by workers. They start as early as 7 a.m. and finish around 5 p.m.
Students traveling on campus have a first-hand look at all of the work being done around them. Walkways on campus are often jammed due to the construction. SUNY Brockport sophomore Allison Forderkonz lives in one of the three high rise dormitories located right in the midst of the construction.
“I feel like I don’t need an alarm clock anymore. If I leave my window open, I can hear the constant beeping of machines and work being done to the campus,” Forderkonz said.
“When walking to class sometimes you can get stuck behind machines and if you’re in a rush it could be problematic. I won’t be living on campus after this year so the construction being done now won’t really benefit me or my graduating class; I’m excited to see what this will all look like in the end and know it will benefit future classes,” Forderkonz said.
The college has built temporary walkways and added different directional signage that helps provide smooth traffic flow and access to all buildings affected by the construction.
Things around SUNY Brockport may look different than usual but, in the meantime, the loud noises, the digging and the building are a new part of the campus norm.