On the Quest for Reclaimed Materials

Given the interest our team has had in the potential for using reclaimed materials in our construction, I took the liberty to make some calls around campus to get information on how to find this stuff. I know it's possible-- my landlord floored my house in old SU gym flooring!

So I got to calling. I began with Physical Plant, who referred me to Recreational Services and Excess Property. From there, I was referred back to everyone I'd just talked to, and then was put into contact with Design and Construction. At Design and Construction, I spoke with Mary Kendrat who suggested I put everything in an email and send it to a Ms. Carol Melendez (who was in a meeting), the secretary/administrative assistant to the Director of Design and Construction. So I did this. According to Ms. Kendrat, Ms. Melendez would get the email to the right people to help us find what we needed. We're just waiting on her response.

Here's the mail:
Dear Ms. Melendez,

Hello, my name is Jessica Posner. I am a senior Sculpture and
Television, Radio and Film major at Syracuse University, and I'm
emailing to enquire about acquiring reclaimed materials for a
community project that I'm currently a part of. Mary Kendrat gave
me your email address, saying you where the exact woman to get in
touch with as you know the avenues of information and would be able
to connect me with the information and people I need.

First, I'll tell you about our project:

As part of a Social Sculpture course through the College of Visual
and Performing Arts, a combined class of Architecture and Art
students are currently working to transform a used 30' RV into a
Mobile Literacy Arts Bus (M-Lab) for use by the Syracuse City School
District and the greater Syracuse Community. Thus far, we have a
acquired and gutted the RV. We are currently in the design stage, but
will very shortly begin with our construction. As a team, we are very
interested in Green design and construction, and would very much like
to use reclaimed materials in the construction of furniture and
interior for the bus. We are particularly interested in wood-- like
old gym flooring-- but would be interested in hearing more on any
other materials to which you have access/information. This interior
will serve as classroom, digital lab, community space, and gallery.
As a team, we think it is very important to work in an
environmentally conscious and responsible way-- which is why I've
contacted you about finding and acquiring reclaimed materials.
Furthermore, in using reclaimed materials from the University, we
believe that we will be contributing to the legacy and relationship
of SU out into the Syracuse Community-- which is where and whom our
project will be serving.

Furthermore, we are on a tight budget and tight time frame, so any
help you could offer would be much appreciated.

If you could please help provide me with information as to who to
contact or how to find and acquire reclaimed materials for use by my
team in our efforts to transform an old RV into an exciting Mobile
Literacy and Arts Bus, we would very much appreciate it.

Please contact me with any questions, concerns, or information. Also,
visit our blog at http://mobileliteracyartsbus.blogspot.com to see
our team in action.

Thank you,

Jessica Posner
jlposner@syr.edu

If anyone else has any sort of leads on acquiring stuff, let's get on it!
Found some free barnwood on craigslist in Hannibal, NY id we're interested...
Also, some other interesting stuff for sale on craiglslist under "materials."