Cornell University President Jeffrey Lehman will cut the red ribbon that marks the official grand reopening of the renovated School of Industrial and Labor Relations' (ILR) Conference Center, Research and Extension Buildings Friday, Oct. 15, at 4:45 p.m. He will be joined by ILR Dean Edward Lawler at the ceremony, which is part of two days of celebratory events at the ILR School.

About three years in the making, the $21.7 million renovation project was funded by the State University of New York Construction Fund and gifts from alumni and friends. The east wing of Catherwood Library, which also was part of the project, opened in 2002.

The Garden Avenue complex of three brick buildings, linked by a common second floor, houses a remarkably diverse group of educational and outreach programs. Among other things they aid workers with disabilities; train U.S. community college leaders; educate labor, management and governmental groups; and research seminal workplace issues.

Such diverse efforts reflect the ILR School's extension and outreach land-grant mission to educate and train working people, says Lawler.

"The school was organized to put the different perspectives of labor and management under one roof," Lawler says. "Our extension division now serves 30,000 clients a year, and our programs have not only grown but become substantially more diverse over the past 10 to 15 years." The renovated building complex "significantly enhances our ability to serve that mission, and it matches in quality the stature of our key educational programs."

The two days of celebratory events include: a Mock Election 2004 debate Friday at 11 a.m. in 305 Ives Hall on the outsourcing of jobs, by AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka and Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; a Friday dinner talk in Trillium, Kennedy Hall, by Denis Hughes, president, New York state AFL-CIO; and special recognition of Lois Gray, ILR professor emerita and an early director of the extension division. 

The facility, which contains the only dedicated conference center on campus, is available to the campus community. Most recently, the refurbished conference center – the middle building

with the white cupola – hosted senior staff from Goldman Sachs, members of the Communication Workers of America, the advisory board of Cornell's Life Sciences Initiative and scholars discussing labor issues in cities shaped by the global economy.

The conference center now includes a sparkling, handsomely furnished reception area through the Garden Avenue entrance and nine state-of-the-art instructional rooms, including an innovatively designed 32-seat amphitheater carved out of what had been a mechanical room. The design allows for flexibility in meeting arrangements, accommodating groups ranging from 10 to

110. Some of the technological enhancements are: wireless microphone systems, videoconferencing capabilities, infrared emitters for the hearing impaired and PolyVision LTX whiteboards and CopyCams that transform notes on flips charts into photocopied handouts and Web postings. Meeting rooms are furnished with Aeron chairs. There are computer kiosks and food-service facilities on every floor, a mini-store selling Cornell memorabilia, a café and a Postal Mart. A courtyard is being replanted by design students of Associate Professor Paula Horrigan.

The ILR School moved into the Garden Avenue complex in the late 1940s, when the buildings' original occupant, the College of Veterinary Medicine, relocated to east campus. The buildings were constructed in 1911 and are historic landmarks, so the exteriors needed to remain intact and the overall footprint virtually unaltered during the renovation.

Housed in expanded quarters on level two of the extension building is the Employment and Disability Institute (EDI), which provides research, training materials, programs and technical assistance that make it easier for people with disabilities to be integrated in the workplace, schools and communities. EDI also advised on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the design of the renovated buildings.

Labor Education Research and Labor Studies are two areas housed in the research building that are part of the ILR School's Statewide Labor Programs. Extension faculty there have pioneered methods of worker education and "created ripples that have helped working people change their lives," said Professor Richard Hurd, director of Labor Studies.

Other programs in the complex include the Institute for Community College Development (ICCD), which helps community colleges across the country meet societal needs for training and education through professional development; and Programs for Employment and Workplace

Systems (PEWS), which does research and consulting on organizational change for businesses, schools, public and nonprofit agencies and unions. The buildings also contain offices for master's and doctoral students, administrators and others.

The Garden Avenue project was designed by HBFR and Associates' architects Herb Beckhard and Frank Richlan. The contractor was David Christa Construction, a union shop.