August 24, 2022
The Summer of 2022 was a busy season for St. John’s University’s Department of Campus Facilities and Services. Students, faculty, administrators, and staff will now reap the benefits of a wide range of concurrent, continuing improvement projects at the Queens, NY, campus.
The most notable—and noticeable—change is found at the southwest end of the Great Lawn, where St. Vincent Hall once stood. The building, which was formally dedicated in 1958, was meticulously demolished earlier this year to make way for a new modern building—the 70,000-square-foot St. Vincent Health Sciences Center, which is scheduled to open in fall 2024. Employees whose offices were previously located in St. Vincent Hall were relocated during the summer of 2021 to various locations around campus.
“Over the next two to three months, our construction management company Shawmut Design and Construction will do a good deal of site work to get the land ready for construction,” explained Brian Baumer, Associate Vice President of Campus Facilities and Services. “We expect structural steel to be delivered in January and erected by May 2023.”
Steps away from the site of the new St. Vincent Health Sciences Center is the Residence Village, where thousands of new and returning students living on campus will enjoy a wide range of improvements, from new furniture in many rooms, to new shower enclosures in Hollis Hall. The seating areas in Montgoris Dining Hall received new flooring and painting, giving the space a contemporary lounge look.
Improvements to Marillac Hall classrooms continued over the summer, with the third floor receiving new high-tech teaching walls, whiteboards, and flooring, as well as new charging outlets for cell phones and laptops, and brighter, modern corridors. These upgrades mirror the recent enhancements to the first and second floors of the building.
Lab space within St. Augustine Hall and St. Albert Hall was upgraded, giving students access to the latest technology and innovations to prepare them for a wide range of careers.
The most notable lab improvement is seen in The Drs. E. Lawrence and Adele V. Deckinger Center for Integrated Advertising Communications inside St. Augustine Hall. This new specialized learning environment in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies focuses on educating Advertising Communication and Public Relations students and is modeled after a typical advertising agency.
It features a touch-down computer center (i.e., a series of smaller workstations shared by multiple users) with state-of-the-art Mac stations, Cintiq drawing monitors, format printers, writeable walls, and multiple video display screens. Students will use this space to learn and practice the skills of creative leadership, advertising production and design, public relations, media planning, creating brand experiences, and other tools necessary for success in the competitive world of integrated marketing communication.
Improvements to Carnesecca Arena are visible to fans of the University’s various Division I teams and student-athletes, who now benefit from enhancements to some sections of arena seating and other improvements that include new lockers, flooring, lights, restrooms, and shower fixtures within various locker rooms. This includes a new men’s general locker room featuring ADA-compliant restrooms and showers.
Finally, students and visitors to campus will notice an entirely repaved parking lot adjacent to Carnesecca Arena. The surface has been restriped to allow for wider parking spots and handicapped spots that are ADA compliant.
“I am extremely proud of my team for all the hard work they did over the summer to improve various areas of campus while dealing with supply chain issues,” added Mr. Baumer. “Students will be excited to see and experience many of the new improvements when they return.”