FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, August 22, 2005

Dedication Held for SUNY Cortland’s New Dorm

First SUNY Dorm With LEED Energy Certification

CORTLAND, N.Y. – The State University College at Cortland dedicated its first new residence hall in 32 years today.

Named for its distinctive four floors of glass-encased student lounges, Glass Tower Hall will open to students for the fall 2005 semester. College President Erik J. Bitterbaum presided over the formal ceremony.

The $12.55 million building is the first State University of New York residence hall to be granted LEED certification, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The U.S. Green Building Council grants LEED certification after documenting that specific stringent energy conservation measures were implemented and environmentally safe materials were used in construction.

The Dormitory Authority provided bond financing for the project as well as construction project management services. Pat Cinelli is the Director of Statewide Facilities Construction, Timothy McGrath is the Chief Project Manager, and Donald Schoonbeek and Everett Neville were the Project Managers. Ashley McGraw Architects of Syracuse designed the building. Louis P. Ciminelli Construction Company finished the building in less than 13 months.

Glass Tower Hall is the only air-conditioned residence hall on campus. The building has 194 beds in two- or four-person junior suites or quad doubles. The quad doubles have a common entrance with shared bathroom facilities, leading into separate bedrooms. On each floor, the common lounge areas have a television, microwave oven, sink and sofas.

Students must be juniors or seniors to be eligible to live in Glass Tower Hall. SUNY Cortland’s residence hall rehabilitation plan has been closing one residence hall a year for rehabilitation and remodeling. The new building replaces beds that were lost through the recent renovations of Alger, Clark, Higgins and Hayes residence halls. All these residence halls now have larger rooms, more single-occupancy rooms, and increased privacy with fewer students sharing bathroom space.

For more information, contact Press Officer Claudia Hutton at (518) 257 3382, or CHutton@dasny.org. SUNY Cortland’s website is www.cortland.edu .