April 4, 2008

You may have wondered why scaffolding grows like Ivy around the outside of Yale's famous towering downtown athletic facility.

Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the cornerstone of Yale's athletic facilities for the last 75 years, is receiving extensive exterior restoration during a process that could last up to five years.

The sandstone-faced structure named after Payne Whitney, class of 1898, is the busiest of all the Yale athletic facilities.

Restoration of the entire exterior surface will be completed in several phases starting with the 240-foot tower. The work includes masonry, windows, doors, roofing, skylights and repairing the rainwater system. Each phase takes between six and 12 months, but that won't begin until the scaffolding, which takes more than two months to place, is completely set up.

There are six acres of exterior wall space, 105,000-square feet of roof, 24 skylights, 16,000-square feet of glass and 2,560 leaded glass windows.

John Russell Pope was the original architect with Marc Eidlitz and Son, Inc. of New York doing the construction between 1930 and 1932. RMJM Hillier (Philadelphia, Pa.), the architect of record for the restoration, has a connection to the original building. RMJM Hillier acquired the company that acquired Pope's group. RMJM Hillier's Preservation Architecture Studio's portfolio includes such landmark projects as the award-winning Thomas Jefferson-designed Virginia Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fusco Construction of New Haven, Conn., is the construction manager and will perform the restoration. MARR Scaffolding of Boston, Mass., is the scaffolding supplier with erection beginning on April 7.