Walk may receive massive facelift

Locust Walk pedestrians beware: The campus's main walkway may be due for more construction. According to Vice President for Facilities Management Art Gravina, the blue stone on the Walk, between 34th and 36th streets, is "deteriorating very rapidly." Although repairs were made to Locust Walk last April because of the disintegration of the stone, he said the University is investigating a permanent solution to the problem. "We are continuing to make repairs to Locust Walk either in the form of patches or replacement of individual blue stones," he said. Gravina said the deterioration is a result of the decisions the University made when choosing the original material for the Walk more than a decade ago. "We found that the stone that was originally put in 15 years ago was not the appropriate stone," he said. The stone should have been two and a half inches thick, but instead the University ordered stone that was an inch and a half thick, Gravina said. He added that "this was done intentionally to save money." Another specification that should have been followed 15 years ago was for the stone to be a single layer of blue stone, he said. "But we went with an inferior stone for cost reasons," he said. Gravina said the deterioration occurred because the stone is so thin that it gives in under the weight of trucks on the Walk. "Blue stone is not a great stone for traffic," he said. "The Walk is in better condition where there is less traffic." Executive Director of Physical Plant James Wargo said the University is looking to replace the Blanche Levy Park area of the Walk with a new material. He said the University has been testing different materials on small sections of the Walk for the last four years. Five months ago, workers put in slabs of sculpture concrete material on 36th Street in front of the Castle, he said. Gravina described the material as "a very dense concrete which is colored to match the blue stone." He said the University wants to make sure it chooses a material that will provide the same ambience on the Walk. The blue stone was originally used to give the impression that the Walk was not too wide, he said. Officials want to make sure the new material gives the same "ribbon effect," he added. Wargo agreed that aesthetics are an important characteristic for any prospective material. "We are looking for something not too expensive that keeps with the aesthetics of the Walk," Wargo said. Some other materials workers have been looking to include a smaller blue stone, granite and brick, he added. Wargo said his department is waiting to see how the material holds up under the traffic and how it withstands the weather conditions of the winter. But Gravina said he is already confident that this material is appropriate. He feels the test is more of an aesthetic one. "We are not testing it primarily for its durability and ease of maintenance," he said. "We are really checking to see how many people notice it." He added that so far there has not been any response to it. He said the material would be easy to repair because they would just have to "pop a new stone in." In contrast, each blue stone costs between $500 and $800 to replace, he added. Gravina said while the replacement of the Walk could cost as much as $2 million, to replace the Walk in sculpture concrete only would cost between from $300,000 to $500,000. The next step is to take the project to the Design Review Committee, which helps the University assess the architecture and aesthetics of the campus, he added. Gravina said he wants to get the committee's sense of how well- colored the material is and if it meets the intent of the blue stone as far as giving the 'ribbon effect.' "I don't have one to two million dollars to put into a walkway," he said. "If they don't like it, they will have to come up with another material." Gravina said if the committee approves this material, the project can be completed in phases over several years and could be started as early as this summer.