Students at Hunter’s main campus at 68th Street will see some construction this coming academic year as the college undertakes needed renovations.
Among the first jobs: The Kaye Playhouse, the theater between Thomas Hunter Hall and the North Building, will be closed until summer 2025 as the college overhauls its air-conditioning system. Productions will take place at nearby theaters while the Kaye Box Office will remain open.
The renovations are part of an effort to bring Hunter's oldest buildings – Kaye, Thomas Hunter Hall, and the North Building – into compliance with Local Law 97, the city’s ambitious plan for reducing emissions.
“The renovations will affect both the building infrastructure and the habitable part of the buildings,” said Interim Vice President for Administration Gustavo Ordóñez. “Ultimately, Thomas Hunter and the North Building will be more efficient, more comfortable places to practice, study, and work — and much greener, too!”
Thomas Hunter Hall was erected in 1913 before modern-day elevators, electrical capacity, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. Part of the Upper East Side Historic District, the Gothic Revival-style building houses the Dance Department, the Student Union, and the Frederick Loewe Theatre, among other spaces. The oldest extant campus building, Thomas Hunter Hall, originally housed Hunter College High School, now at East 94th Street.
During the first phase, the college will install central cooling, heating, and ventilation, and access to year-round HVAC. The HVAC redesign will decouple Thomas Hunter Hall from the North Building chiller and steam plant for a more efficient, sustainable solution.
Also, during the first phase, Hunter will replace one of the two existing elevators and renovate the seventh, sixth, and parts of the fifth floors at Thomas Hunter.
Eventually, students can expect to see new restrooms, improvements to the seventh-floor Dance Studio, refreshed dressing rooms and study space on the sixth floor, and a new Dance Department Office suite on the fifth floor. Improvements to technology will be visible throughout.
Spurred by an influx of capital money from CUNY in FY24, Hunter will embark on many facilities improvements in the coming months and years. Those include improvements to or replacement of the North, West, and East building elevators; wiring, ventilation, and air conditioning renovations; roofing, lighting, and boiler repairs; and upgrades of many lecture halls and the Assembly Hall in the North Building.
