DOMINICK CORSI
Special to The Leader
If you’re new to Fredonia, the tall, bold lettering that shows the names and addresses of each building around campus probably helped you become familiar with SUNY Fredonia’s layout.
After almost 100 years, building address signs have been placed on fifty buildings around campus.
The signs are something to behold, as they’ve recently been put up over the summer due to fire code regulations that Fredonia would have been violating if this wasn’t done.
The New York State Fire Code states that each public building on a college campus is required to have an E911 address affixed to the front of the building.
“There is even a requirement for how big the letters must be,” said Charles Holder, interim chief of police and emergency planning coordinator.
Fredonia’s campus isn’t overly complicated or confusing, but anything that allows first responders the possibility of doing their job more efficiently should be taken with serious consideration.
“The signs are for first responders who are not familiar with our campus to be able to find our buildings easily,” said Holder. “These addresses are being put into our dispatch calls for law enforcement, fire and EMS responders to find our buildings easier.”
These E911 addresses should not be used for directing mail services; 280 Central Avenue is still the address for all U.S. Mail coming to SUNY Fredonia.
The purchasing and installation of the 50 signs around campus falls under the category of a safety and security project, meaning that the signs were paid for through Minor Critical Maintenance Funds. These funds are awarded to each SUNY campus and are not part of the campus’s operating budget.
The entire project cost approximately $19,000 for the signs and installation.
Safety and security are obviously non-negotiable for a college campus, and this project reinforces the idea that Fredonia makes that a priority for students.
“Preparation and planning are among the keys to maintaining a safe campus environment for everyone,” said Jeffery Woodard, director of marketing & communications. “These signs give first responders a quick and clear indication of where they need to go in the event of an emergency.”
While helping first responders, these signs will also prove useful for the campus community and visitors to easily navigate the area.
Holder said “New students and staff were certainly in our minds as we moved forward with this project. We have had numerous complaints on not getting exact address locations for our on-campus buildings through such apps as Google Maps.”
Holder confirmed that eventually the addresses will slowly be migrated into Google Maps and other software programs. Addresses to parking lots and other areas where we may need EMS may also be added.
He explained that it was an extensive process to properly designate what the actual building numbers are for some of our on-campus buildings.
New students, faculty and staff get the luxury of having these signs during their first year at Fredonia, while upperclassmen might have had to go to the wrong building or get lost once or twice in order to learn campus layout.
If you haven’t noticed the signs yet, make a special effort to find them on the buildings you walk past every day. They’re pretty easy to catch.