April Fools! SU to open Mount Staircase service lift, new bar in April

Syracuse University is installing slip-n-slides on two traffic-heavy parts of campus — the Einhorn Family Walk and the Mount Olympus staircase.

Pete Sala, vice president and chief facilities officer, sent a campus-wide email Sunday morning, saying that the initiative is “to give back and allow students to enjoy the warmer months here in Central New York.” The email also included construction updates for the Barnes Center at the Arch and other seasonal additions.

The list of projects are:

• • Mount Staircase: A service lift will be installed at the bottom of Sims Drive that will pull students up to the top of Mount Olympus Drive. The lift is “in lieu of the 123 steps it takes to get to the top” and will save students an “average of 5 seconds per trip,” according to Sala’s email. A descending waterslide will be available 24 hours for students beginning on April 15. Students will receive reusable garbage bags to protect their backpacks before they slide down.

• • Barnes Center at the Arch: An eight-lane swimming pool with a swim-up bar will be included in the $20 million renovation of Archibold Gymnasium. The bar will include Pepsi products, beer, wine and liquor, and will be surrounded by 250 pool chairs and 25 cabanas. The Arch plans on using the area for outdoor activities “to promote school spirit towards the end of the year.” 

• • Einhorn Family Walk: A swipe of an SUID card at Goldstein will grant students access to the slip-n-slide that will be installed on the Einhorn Family Walk, starting April 10. The slide will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

• • Solar powered dorms: The University is planning on taking advantage of the amount sunlight per year by installing solar panels on top of all the dorms on campus. Construction has started for the Freshman dorms and the main campus installation will be completed April 26. Skyhall will be finished by 2025. 

• Club Bird: A club will open at the bottom of Bird Library as an outlet “for students to relieve stress in a safe environment” during exam weeks, according to Sala’s email. The space will be surrounded by soundproof walls and include elevated surfaces and a bar that will accept SUpercard Plus. There will be no age requirement, but students will need to swipe their SUID regardless. Additionally, construction requirements will permit the exclusion of smoke detectors because an alarm could disturb other students in the library. The bar will open April 18.

The first 1,000 students to reply all to Sala’s email will be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card.

For those who deleted the email as soon as it hit their inbox, we’ve included a copy below.