Vassar Quarterly - Fall 2017 - 13

Vassar Today
"THIS NEW DINING SPACE PROMISES
TO BE AN IMPORTANT VENUE FOR
COMMUNITY BUILDING AND
INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL EXCHANGE
AT VASSAR."

Photos by Karl Rabe, except Vassar Farm, John Abbott

-Chris Roellke, Dean of the College
assumed a new role for the ACDC job: general
contractor. "It was a cost-cutting decision," Quattrociocchi says. "Normally, a general contractor will
receive 25 to 30 percent of the total cost of the job."
Vassar saved approximately $1 million by having him
manage the construction.
Quattrociocchi knew he'd need help to accomplish
the Herculean task, so he hired Ripley, a private
construction manager he'd worked with before, as
his deputy.
The crew wasted no time in knocking down
load-bearing walls; installing structural steel beams;
replacing flooring; constructing new kitchens, a dish
room, and serving stations; exposing and refurbishing
the original wooden floors in the entryway; and
rebuilding the open stairway that leads to second
floor seating.
"This project was like a freight train. You had to
keep going," Quattrociocchi says. And, he says, you
have to be creative. That meant scheduling many
phases of the project simultaneously rather than in
their normal order.
Virtually all construction projects have their share
of surprises, and this project had a big one: Plans called
for hooking a waste disposal system to an existing
sewer line, but when workers dug down to the pipe,
they discovered it was crumbling. Quattrociocchi
found a crew to lay new pipe, and the job continued.
"We had guys here at 3:00am working to keep us
on schedule," he says.
The whole process was "kind of like driving from
one town to another and you're speeding through a
forest," Quattrociocchi says. "All you see is the trees
flying by, and suddenly there you are, at your destination." A sense of teamwork among the more than
30 separate contractors helped them to get there.
Despite the obstacles, the crew managed to bring
the ambitious project to completion on time and on
budget. The new dining center officially opened with a
rush of students and parents on August 25-Move-In
Day for first-year students.

Above: Construction managers
Mike Quattrociocchi and Tony
Ripley managed to bring the
dining center project in on
time and on budget despite
a short turnaround time.
left: In addition to the newly
renovated ACDC, the campus
community also enjoys Bon
Appétit's popular new VC
Street Eats food truck.

-Debbie Swartz and Larry Hertz

For more information on the tasty new dining experience,
visit http://dining.vassar.edu.

State-of-the-art greenhouses at the Vassar Farm will provide fresh produce to Vassar's
new dining facility year-round.
VA S S A R Q U A R T E R lY

http://dining.vassar.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vassar Quarterly - Fall 2017