William H. Lane overseeing renovation project for SUNY Broome Culinary Arts Center

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — William H. Lane Inc., a Binghamton–based construction firm, says it will oversee the renovation project for SUNY Broome Community College’s new Culinary Arts Center.

The college in late September announced plans to locate the center in the soon-to-be renovated Carnegie Library, the former home of the Binghamton Public Library.

Constructed in 1903, the building has been vacant “for years,” the school said. The Preservation Association of the Southern Tier included the structure on its list of the top five endangered landmarks in the Binghamton area.

The approximately $11 million project will take 16 to 18 months to complete, with the project going out to bid early in 2017, SUNY Broome said. 

The renovation work will begin in the spring. 

William H. Lane will oversee the process, “ensuring the creation of a proper educational facility while respecting the historical nature of the building,” the firm said in a Dec. 22 news release. 

Broome County has awarded $3 million in funding for the project. New York State has contributed $5 million, and the Southern Tier regional economic-development council has awarded $2.2 million for the project, the school said. 

The project is also eligible for historic tax credits and the college said it will also solicit private donations toward the renovation effort.

Rochester–based Passero Associates is designing the facility, with the guidance of Cynthia Carrington Carter, a historical architect from Renaissance Studio of Syracuse.

The redesigned facility will house the college’s new Culinary Arts program and some parts of the existing hospitality and events-management programs. 

Amenities will include a fabrication lab, a “fully equipped” beverage lab for mixology classes, a refrigerated food preparation and storage area, production kitchens, a dining room, a computer lab, a lecture hall for cooking demonstrations, office space, lounge areas, and a proposed community education cooking studio.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com