The new doors to the Science Center now meet handicapped egress requirements.
With the introduction of new doors in the Carl C. Icahn Science Center and the side of the Andrew Mellon Library, students traveling from class to class can do so in the swiftest manner possible.
Mr. Steven Lazarus, Architecture teacher and the chief architect for the Science Center Door Replacement Project, selected new doors that had an “offset fulcrum (pivot) point.” While the doors facing the Great Lawn have been changed according to the Science Center Door Replacement Project, the doors on the Science Center bridge are set to be changed as well in the near future.
These new doors, made of painted aluminum, are called “balanced doors” and are less affected by wind pressure. They require a substantially smaller amount of force to open than the older doors.
The doors that previously took the place of these new balanced doors were too narrow to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for wheelchair access, and the bottom edges rubbed on the brick pavers beneath. Mr. Lazarus and other facilities operators, such as Director of Facilities Mr. Jeffrey Miller, changed the configuration of all of the outside doorways of the Science Center to allow for wider doors that now meet handicapped egress requirements.
While Mr. Lazarus was the project architect for the replacement of the Science Center doors, an outside contractor replaced the old doors. They were the original doors of the Science Center, making them 25 years old.
Mr. Lazarus, Mr. Miller, and other facilities operators began this project design roughly one and a half years ago. Mr. Lazarus says that the reason this design took as long as it did was because of the “significant lead time for custom fabricated or painted items.” He added, “The door installation needed to be scheduled for a time the Science Center was not in use.”
Mr. Lazarus himself did not design or replace the new doors of the library – Mr. Miller was in charge of the Library Door Replacement Project, which is still ongoing. Glass panels were added to the doors of the library to improve visibility and safety.
While the outside doors of the Science Center and the side doors of the library have already been changed, plans are still scheduled for the electric door opener on the Science Center bridge to be replaced at the same time as the door itself.
