The College identified the exterior plaza, stairs and retaining walls of the 36-year-old Union Plaza to be in disrepair. The concrete stairs were in poor condition due to years of heavy salting and are a continuous maintenance problem. Many of these stairs needed to be patched yearly to maintain a minimum safety standard. These stairs varied in width and in many cases did not meet current code for stairway rail width.

The College also expressed the desire to reduce the stairs in and around the plaza to reduce maintenance, especially snow removal in the winter.

The college considers this area of the campus vital to campus life and a selling point for prospective students and parents. The design had to be visually appealing, useful, flexible and inviting while being durable and easy to maintain.

HUNT was retained to correct a drainage issue that was also a problem for the students when walking between the buildings at Saratoga Terrace.

The walking route, a main route between the academic area and the housing area, was previously asphalt, which was heaved in some areas and had settled in others.

To make the situation worse, the drainage was creating significant puddles with the degrading asphalt surface. According to campus officials, the students would not walk in the center area much anymore, especially during the winter, which caused grass areas to turn muddy with the dying grass. It was also a maintenance issue when plowing snow in the winter.

HUNT proposed trench drains to provide better and more efficient collection of storm water or snow melt. When under design, HUNT split the difference of grade between the existing surface to remain to provide a consistently graded walking area, as well as positive drainage throughout the Saratoga Terrace corridor.

As part of the project, a set of concrete steps was replaced with a sidewalk that improved the ADA compliance of the area. Pedestrian ramps were also added at three locations.