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April 12, 2007 &bull

A view of Gasson Hall from the Quad. The building, the first Gothic-style structure to be constructed on the Boston College Chestnut Hill Campus, will undergo major exterior restoration starting April 17. Construction work will not take place during Commencement and other selected periods or days. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Major Renovation Project In the Works for Gasson

By Stephen Gawlik
Staff Writer

Gasson Hall, the signature architectural edifice of Boston College that has stood atop Chestnut Hill for some nine decades, will undergo a comprehensive exterior restoration beginning this spring.

Construction fences are expected to be in place around Gasson starting next Tuesday, April 17, with the initial phases of construction to immediately follow. Construction work will not take place during study and exam days, Commencement and Alumni Weekend.

Parking will be affected near Gasson and Lyons Hall and there will be some traffic pattern changes on Middle Campus, said Capital Construction Director John Romeo. Details and updates will be posted to BCInfo and the Facilities Management Web site as they become available.

Romeo said the project, which will likely take place in two phases during the next several years, will address numerous problems that have resulted from nearly a century of use and continual exposure to various environmental conditions, all of which have aged the building's stone elements.

"The native Roxbury puddingstone remains in very good condition but the more decorative cast stone elements on Gasson's exterior are nearing the end of their life expectancy and it's time that we addressed them," said Project Manager Jacob Mycofsky. "This is a building with a lot of emotional attachment to it. People love Gasson, it's the focal point of the University and we're going to bring her back."

Gasson Hall was the first Gothic-style building to be constructed on the Chestnut Hill Campus, originally occupied in 1913. Named in honor of Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, president of Boston College from 1907-14, Gasson Hall was originally called the Recitation Building, then the Tower Building, according to University Historian Thomas H. O'Connor.

Mere stone and mortar it is not, adds O'Connor, but rather a symbol of the University's core values.

"That very element of the 'Tower on the Heights' typifies the school's motto of 'Ever to Excel.' Gasson was for so long the central focus of campus and I still contend that it is the heart of Boston College."

Today the building contains the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the A&S Honors Program and the Irish Room, originally the University's assembly hall, which currently serves as a center for special events. The upper floors contain numerous classrooms.

The upcoming project calls for the rebuilding or replacement of all deteriorated elements to replicate the original building. This will include the four spires, crenulations, structural and ornamental components, roofs, tower landings and all windows. Masonry work, consisting of Roxbury puddingstone and cast stone, will be repointed throughout the building.

The first, and most complex, phase of the project will concentrate on the Gasson Tower, said Mycofsky. All its cast stone pieces will be removed and measured to determine what their original shapes were, and a drawing will be made of each. After the architect and conservator review and approve the drawings, a mold will be formed by the cast stone manufacturer who will create the new pieces.

Part of the project's challenges lies in hiring the best team that can replicate the kind of skilled masonry work that was more common when Gasson's construction began in 1909, said Mycofsky. Construction techniques have changed over time and firms that can reproduce Gasson's cast stone elements are few and far between.

To accurately assess the building's needs, a detailed investigation of Gasson's problems and their causes was completed last fall. This allowed the design phase to be finished in December by an architectural and engineering team headed by McGinley, Kaslow and Associates, LLP. Mycofsky said the process required the engineers to rappel down the face of the building while using small tablet computers to help document the condition of each stone.

The design and engineering team engaged the services of well-known stone conservator Ivan Myjer, representing the firm of Building & Monument Conservation. Myjer has led many significant projects for the preservation of historic stone structures including the Holder Tower at Princeton University, the Cooper Union Foundation Building in New York City, Boston Public Library and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

"When this project gets underway, it will be one of the biggest cast stone projects in America," said Mycofsky.

Gasson's puddingstone facade was quarried right out of Chestnut Hill, and Mycofsky says the project may entail using some of the same rock currently found around campus. About one percent of the puddingstone will be replaced and 95 percent of the cast stone.

The famous four bells housed in Gasson Tower will -- for the first time in history -- have to be silenced to accommodate crews working at the higher elevations. The building's clock will also be overhauled and repaired.

Mycofsky said that while the exterior needs attention, he was delighted to learn that the building's structure and interior is in better shape than expected.

"They went over each and every stone to determine the building's exact needs," said Mycofsky. "When this exterior restoration project has been completed, Gasson Hall will be ready for another 100 years."