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First Presbyterian Church, Ithaca, NY
In November 2009, Vertical Access was retained by the First Presbyterian Church
in Ithaca, NY to investigate and document
existing conditions at the plaster ceiling in the sanctuary of the church and to install netting below the ceiling as a
temporary public safety measure. The scope of work for the survey included visual and hands-on inspection of the plaster
ceiling from an interior "atrium" lift. VA's documentation of the plaster ceiling will be used by the project team,
including Bero Architecture, to develop appropriate
treatments for the long-term repair of the plaster ceiling. The intent
of the netting installation is to protect occupants of the church from any plaster fragments that might fall prior to
undertaking a final repair program.
See full article
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Erie Community College, Buffalo, NY
In early November, Vertical Access completed an inspection of the exterior granite masonry at the Erie Community College (ECC)
Building tower in Buffalo, NY in conjunction with Flynn Battaglia Architects.
The Erie Community College building was originally designed as the main post office for Buffalo by Supervising Treasury Architect
Jeremiah O'Rourke with William Aiken and James Knox Taylor. Constructed between 1894 and 1901, the five-story building covers an
entire city block near downtown Buffalo. The building's use as a post office ceased in 1963, when a new postal facility was
constructed at a different location, and in 1981 the building was converted to the city campus of Erie Community College.
See full article
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Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) conference
Keith and Mike attended the annual Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) conference held this year in
New Orleans, Louisiana, January 14-16. SPRAT conferences typically consist of two parts, committee meetings as well as
participant presentation on topics pertinent to rope access work. In addition to the usual conference fair Mike attended
an evaluator workshop and Keith gave a presentation on research conducted by Vertical Access on Mechanical Anchor Strength
in Stone Masonry.
See full article
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Guastavino Biennial Prize 2010 Competition
After being invited to speak in the La Massa Theater lecture series in 2009, Kent was asked to sit on the jury for the
Guastavino Biennial Prize 2010 Competition. The aim of the competition is to promote projects along two main themes of
research: first, constructions by the Guastavino company around the world; and second, the history and development of
the Catalan vault. The competition is open to any student or professional under the age of 35, and the deadline for
submissions is June 15, 2010.
For more information on the competition:
 download the PDF (2.6 MB)
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Former Cornell Extern, Abby Smith, Joins Vertical Access
Abby attended Cornell University for Architecture, a degree program that allowed her to exercise her passion for
designing and creating to her hearts content. After Cornell Abby worked for Ithaca's
Kitchen Theatre Company
where she got to put her skills to use designing and creating costumes, props, and sets for the stage. Abby's
architectural background along with an interest in climbing (which predisposed her to find the idea of hanging
off of buildings enticing) led her to Vertical Access. So far (in the few weeks that she has been working with
Vertical Access) Abby has just gotten acquainted with the company, she has taken over as Webmaster and done a
little of just about everything else. Outside of theatre and architecture Abby is a great fan of the outdoors,
whether it is climbing, bicycling, skiing, playing soccer, or having snowball fights.
Since 2006, Vertical Access has participated in Cornell University's Extern Program.
The Cornell Extern Program
is a career-exploration program that allows students to get an insider's view of a career field and explore the workplace
firsthand by visiting Cornell alumni in their workplaces during winter break. The externs that VA has hosted are design and
architecture students, typically from the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, with an interest in historic preservation.
Some of the externs have come back to VA following their externships. After graduating from Cornell University in 2008,
Abby rejoined VA as a part-time employee in January [see above]. Nick McEvily, who was an extern in January 2009,
worked for VA part-time during the spring and fall semesters in 2009, while he completed his bachelor of science degree in
Design and Environmental Analysis. Through the extern program, VA has been fortunate to introduce college students to the
day-to-day operations of a consulting firm that works with architects and engineers , and broaden their understanding of historic
preservation and the built environment.
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