ITHACA -- Work at the site of Seneca Place on the Commons has
already left a big hole in the ground at Seneca and Tioga streets,
but dignitaries plan to dig a little deeper Monday.
Officials from the city, Cornell University and Ciminelli
Development Company, Inc. will gather under a tent at the site at
11:30 a.m. for a groundbreaking ceremony.
The nine-story, $30 million office building will house 500
workers, about 300 of whom will be Cornell University employees.
Monday's event will also serve to welcome Cornell as the anchor
tenant for the complex. The university will occupy 70,000 square
feet in the complex. Seneca Place also will include a 110-room
Hilton Garden Inn and ground floor retail space.
President and CEO of Ciminelli Development Paul Ciminelli, Ithaca
Mayor Carolyn Peterson and Cornell University President Jeffrey
Lehman will speak Monday. Michael Stamm, president of Tompkins
County Area Development, Glenn Small, regional vice president of
M&T Bank, and Gary Ferguson, executive director of The Ithaca
Downtown Partnership are also expected to speak.
