Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts

• Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts – The skylight has been installed and the interior walls are up. Final finishes have commenced.
• Sidewalk Bridge – Say goodbye to the sidewalk bridge! It will be disassembled next week.
• Elevators – Modernization of all three elevators in Carson Hall is complete! The elevator crew has begun work on the Nugent Hall elevators. Following is info specific to each elevator car:
  
  
  • Car #1 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, east): Modernization complete! Open for general use.
  • Car #2 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, west): Modernization complete! Open for general use.
  • Car #3 (single elevator, Carson Hall): Modernization complete! Reserved for construction 6:00-8:10am. The construction team will also be using the elevator during dedicated breaks and shift changes. Open for general use all other times.
  • Car #4 (Nugent Hall, east, closer to Theresa Lang Theatre): Unavailable
  • Car #5 (Nugent Hall, west, closer to Starbucks): Open for general use. Modernization will begin mid-July.

• 55th residence hall facade – Facade work on the 55th St residence hall is complete.
• Enabling moves – MMC’s implementation team will be in touch, if they haven’t already been, with individual offices/departments who will have to move to prepare for the opening of the Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts. Thank you for your cooperation and your patience during this time of exciting growth for the College.

• Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts – The center’s infrastructure is being installed and the skylight is being prepared for installation, which is scheduled for mid-February.
• Sidewalk Bridge – After the sidewalk bridge was installed earlier this fall, marquee signs promoting the College were designed and fastened to the upper portion of the bridge. 
• Elevators – All five elevators located on Main Campus (three in Carson Hall and two in Nugent Hall) are undergoing modernization. Please note the following:
  
  
  • Car #1 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, east): Modernization complete! Open for general use.
  • Car #2 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, west): Reserved for construction 6:00-8:10am. The construction team will also be using the elevator during dedicated breaks and shift changes. Open for general use all other times.
  • Car #3 (single elevator, Carson Hall): Unavailable.
  • Car #4 (Nugent Hall, east, closer to Theresa Lang Theatre): Open for general use. Modernization will begin mid-March.
  • Car #5 (Nugent Hall, west, closer to Starbucks): Open for general use. Modernization will begin in May.
• 55th residence hall facade – Facade work on the 55th St residence hall is very near completion. Work is expected to be finished later this month.
• Facilities requests – For any and all facilities issues, requests, and repairs, please use the online BuildingLink system to submit your request. BuildingLink is the fastest and easiest way to get your requests addressed. Each office has a designated staff person who has access to BuildingLink. If you are unsure of your office’s BuildingLink designee, please ask your supervisor. Residential students can use their BuildingLink account to make a facilities request related to their residence hall.

• Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts – Demolition of the seventh and eighth floors where the visual arts center will be located is complete. Internal structures (e.g., steel, plumbing, mechanical systems) are currently being installed.
• Sidewalk Bridge – To begin work on the next phase of the visual arts center project—the skylight—a sidewalk bridge must be erected outside Carson Hall. The sidewalk bridge is scheduled to go up on Monday, October 11, 2021, and will remain up until summer 2022. 
• Noise mitigation – The contractor and the College are taking all necessary steps to ensure construction noise is kept to a minimum, especially for classes in session at Carson Hall.
• Elevators – All five elevators located on Main Campus (three in Carson Hall and two in Nugent Hall) are undergoing modernization. Please note the following:
  
  
  • Car #2 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, west): open for general use.
  • Car #1 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, east): will be unavailable until approximately December 1, 2021.
  • Car #3 (single elevator, Carson Hall); reserved for construction from 6:00am-8:10am. The construction team will be using the elevator during dedicated breaks and shift changes.
• Friday delivery – All deliveries related to campus construction projects will be made on Fridays this semester to minimize inconvenience to students, faculty, and staff.
• 55th residence hall facade – Facade work on the 55th St residence hall is nearing completion. Work is expected to be finished in late December 2021.

In preparation for the Fall 2021 semester, please note the following:

• Campus map – shows the major moves as well as landmark campus spaces
• Signs – posted around campus to guide you to the locations of offices and spaces
• Course Bulletin - shows whether your class meets in-person, online, or blended. If in-person or blended, refer to the Building Locations chart to find out which building your class is in.
• Study spaces – the following spaces are open for students to study in; you do NOT need to make a reservation to study in these spaces
  - The Thomas J. Shanahan Library
  - The Commons
  - The Lowerre Family Terrace
  - The Regina Peruggi Room
• Spaces to attend online classes – all of the above study spaces are available for attending online classes. Additionally the PC labs in Carson 410 and Carson 411 are available for attending online classes but only when in-person classes are not meeting in those rooms. 
  You do NOT need to make a reservation to attend online classes in these spaces.
• Room/space reservations – if you are using any room/space for a meeting, event, or rehearsal, you must reserve that room/space. Dance and Theatre studios always require a reservation no matter how the space is being used.
• Elevators – all five elevators located on Main Campus (three in Carson Hall and two in Nugent Hall) are undergoing modernization. Please note the following:
  - Car #2 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, west): modernization complete; reserved for construction 6–8 am Monday–Friday
  - Car #1 (double elevators, Carson Hall, outside Great Hall, east): will be unavailable until approximately mid-October 2021
  - Car #3 (single elevator, Carson Hall); open for general use

• The seventh and eighth floor spaces where the center will be located have been cleared out.
• Demolition of those spaces began May 28 and is expected to continue until August 2021.
• Construction of the spaces in Nugent Hall and the Library has begun. Reminder: 4 ^th floor Nugent and the Library are closed until these spaces are completed, currently slated for mid-August.
• Following are the departments and offices whose moves have been completed:
  
  • 7 ^th and 8 ^th floor Art/Art History faculty offices to Carson 106 (Career Services office) and Carson 305 (Business office)
  • Residence Life to Carson 500
  • Student Activities to Carson 200
  • Academic Affairs to 5 ^th floor Townhouse
  • Sciences Division faculty (Departments of Psychology and Communication Sciences and Disorders) to Nugent 053
  • Sciences Division Chair to Carson 614
  • 7 ^th floor Art History classroom to Nugent 249
  • Institutional Advancement to 3 ^rd and 4 ^th floors Townhouse

From MMC President Kerry Walk

Construction Timeline

April 2021 – August 2021: Offices/departments on Carson Hall 7 ^th and 8 ^th Floors will move to other locations.

June 2021 – August 2021: Nugent Hall 4 ^th Floor and the Library will be closed for the construction of spaces needed to accommodate some of the offices and departments that are moving. Note: The Nugent Lounge, equipped with computers and printers, will remain open throughout this period.

May 2021 – July 2022: Construction of the visual arts center will take place on Carson Hall 7 ^th and 8 ^th Floors.

August 2022: The Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts is slated to open, and temporarily relocated offices/departments will be moved.

The implementation team will provide clear and regular communication with you during the project. A webpage for progress reports and FAQs is under development, and you can expect regular updates via email and campus signage.

Moving and construction are never easy or convenient, but the College is working hard to minimize disruptions. We are also getting excited: just 15 months from now, we anticipate the opening of the Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts—a spectacular space that will bring together students, faculty, and staff from across the College, and also serve as a cultural and community hub for New York City.

The project will take approximately 13 months to complete. The new Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts will be open for the Fall 2022 semester. 

Thorough testing and surveys were completed ahead of the start of construction. Any and all hazardous materials will be removed and disposed of safely, following the City’s compliance guidelines.

All noisy work that would be disruptive to classes below would occur early in the morning (before classes begin).

The design of the new Center for Visual Arts incorporated sustainable materials and environmentally-conscious construction practices throughout the process. Energy usage of new systems were analyzed for efficiency. Finish choices were made with sustainability as a driving factor. The College as well as the entire project team (contractor, architect, engineers, etc.) have focused on sustainability and efficiency as a tenet of the entire project and have implemented project attributes outlined by the United States Green Building Council to inform the overall design.

HEPA filters are in use throughout the construction site to minimize and reduce dust. Temporary plastic walls are being used to seal off common areas for dust (elevators, stairwells). Entrances to the construction site contain sticky walk-off mats to pull dust from shoes before workers enter elevator or stairwells.

The College and the general contractor are working together to repurpose or donate as much furniture as we can. We are partnering with various donation organizations. Any furniture that cannot be reused or donated will be disposed of and recycled responsibly following the City’s compliance guidelines.

All construction workers must follow the MMC COVID guidelines and Shawmut (the construction management company) guidelines. This includes a daily temperature check and questionnaire completion. Hand washing stations and hand sanitizing stations are set up throughout the job site to encourage frequent washing/sanitizing. All frequent touch points are cleaned several times throughout the day.

Yes! The College has met and is continuing to exceed the State’s minimum requirements. In addition, the College and the general contractor have partnered with the NEW program, a groundbreaking employment model that prepares, trains, and places women in careers in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades.

A map will be made available to the MMC community. Stay tuned!