Asbestos removal ends in Brahan and Fitzgibbons Hall
Tyler McNeil
Creative Editor
Nearly 10,000 square feet of asbestos-containing materials were removed in Brahan Hall and Fitzgibbons Hall over the course of winter break as part of the Fitzgibbons demolition project.
The project, supervised by the Physical Plant, consists of two stages: demolition and renovation. The demolition phase of the project will consist of stripping down the interior and renovating the stairwell and third floor of Fitzgibbons and is set to be completed by Jan. 20.
“As projects come up, we go through the survey process, identify what asbestos-containing materials are present, and get them abated,” said Laurie Vivekanand, director of Environmental Health and Safety.
About 1,600 square feet of floor tile and mastic glue containing asbestos were removed from the first floor of Brahan Hall during the last two weeks of intersession, from Jan. 5 to Jan. 15, by Op-Tech Environmental Services. Hudson Valley paid $24,842 to Op-Tech for the abatement.
Asbestos removal was also conducted in Brahan Hall last June. The second-floor carpeting that contained asbestos, installed by the Physical Plant nearly a decade ago, was removed.
“The reason why that was done is because we wanted new carpet in certain areas of Brahan [Hall] and in order to remove the carpet, you risk pulling up the floor tiles underneath that contain asbestos,” said Vivekanand.
East of Brahan Hall, 8,100 square feet of floor tile and mastic was removed from the third floor and stairwells of Fitzgibbons Health Technologies Center from early November to late December.
The mastic glue used to set the floor tiles was found to contain asbestos during a pre-renovation survey in August of last year. The carcinogenic agent was required to be removed by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor.
Niram Construction Co., based in Boonton, N.J., removed the asbestos in Fitzgibbons Hall. On Oct. 16 of last year, the contract for the Fitzgibbons Demolition Project was finalized between Hudson Valley, Niram Construction Co., the City of Troy, Rensselaer County and other associates.
The Fitzgibbons Demolition Project is projected to cost $343,000.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring. The renovation project updating the third floor and stairwell of Fitzgibbons Hall will be managed by U.W Marx, Inc., and was designed by Dodge Chamberlin Luzine Weber Associates Architects LLC. Both companies are based in the City of Troy.