New College Master Plan proposals unveiled

Author: Samantha Michaels

Students, faculty and local residents crowded into Dana Auditorium on Jan. 10 for an open forum to discuss the College's Master Plan - a hierarchal, comprehensive guide to the physical development of campus over the next 50 years. The presentation, led by landscape analyst and architectural specialist Michael Dennis, highlighted plans which have been 20 months in the making, while providing the public a third and final opportunity to examine the proposals before they are submitted to the Board of Trustees.

Under the new Master Plan, all new construction will be completed on land that the College already owns, said Dennis, because there is a surplus of real estate. This inward building will make for a denser, more sustainable campus with closely clustered structures. Yet the real focus of the Master Plan is not buildings, but rather open spaces.

"Those are the most poignant and memorable aspects of campus life," said Dennis. "The idea was to increase the variety of open space and the numbers of them."

The Master Plan has two primary goals, which emerged during Dennis' early meetings with local residents and members of the College. First, new development will preserve and enhance the campus' beloved characteristics, especially its open landscape and solid, dignified Vermont buildings. Second, it will maintain or improve the ecological sustainability of the College, focusing on carbon neutrality and improved building envelopes for energy efficiency. Dennis hopes to strike a balance between reverence for the landscape and reverence for the environment and, as explained by Associate Vice President for Facilities Susan Personette, this desire has "really become the heart and soul of the plan."

Getting Around Campus

The Master Plan encompasses several ambitious objectives, including advancement of an accessible, pedestrian-friendly campus. At present, navigation from place to place can be difficult. Sidewalks seem randomly positioned and chaotic, though according to Dennis, the problem is also due "to the way the campus is connected and the role of College Street and Main Street … [which] have been barriers rather than zippers to glue to the College together." The Master Plan will narrow College Street by removing bike lanes and providing a pedestrian promenade, while adding tree-lined sidewalks on the north and south ends, putting power lines underground and placing pedestrian crosswalks at more logical points. In addition, Dennis foresees the transformation of Old Chapel Road to Old Chapel Walk, another tree-lined walkway for pedestrians that will provide pocket parking at each end. Centeno Plaza, currently serving as a main vehicular entrance to the College, will eventually become a paved court for short-term parking and pedestrian drop-offs. The Service Building will be relocated near the Recycling Center.

This strong focus on pedestrian accessibility is accompanied by efforts for improved circulation and traffic flow, as well as modifications to the parking system. South Main Street will provide parallel parking, a roundabout turn and a new entrance to the Mahoney Center for the Arts (CFA).

"The parking plan shows that nobody has to walk for more than five minutes to get from their car to where they need to be going," says Dennis, with the largest lots placed by the CFA and Wright Theater. The Master Plan grants prioritized spaces to faculty and staff - who must commute to work every day - making student parking more remote.

Making the Connection

The Master Plan further encourages increased connectivity between the three distinct areas of campus: South Campus, ranging from the arts buildings to the athletic fields, Central Campus, encompassing the Main Quad and the New Library, and North Campus, which includes Bicentennial Hall and Battell Beach.

"The three districts are incomplete and disconnected," said Dennis. "There's a limited variety of open space." The Master Plan will rectify these issues, providing more legible outdoor areas so as to establish an identity for each region, while simultaneously linking them to other parts of campus.

On South Campus, improvements may be made to the arts area and athletic facilities, including an Arts Quad behind Meeker and Munford Houses. The Master Plan proposes to transform the CFA from an art museum to a Center for the Performing Arts, increasing theater functions and facilities for music and dance. Another art museum would be built to the northeast of Meeker. Dennis also hopes to expand the Fitness Center, re-soil the practice fields, renovate the golf course, install an all-weather surface at Youngman Field and replace the Bubble with a new field house.

Changes to Central Campus will focus on outdoor space. The selective removal of trees and a rejuvenation of ground soil will more clearly define the Main Quad, while the addition of plants and a restored Garden of the Seasons will enhance newly renovated Library Park.

Dennis would like to clarify and improve open areas in North Campus by separating space north of Forest Hall into quads and parks. A Bicentennial Park between Bicentennial Hall and Coffrin Hall will include picturesque, rolling topography, winding pathways and an abundance of trees. Strategically positioned buildings and trees will better define Battell Beach, which will remain open for sports and informal activities. Work will also be completed to improve drainage.

"You know what Battell Beach is like during the mud season," joked Dennis. "There are things that need to be done to promote a better kind of ecological system and functional system."

Dennis also proposes changes to the space south of Le Chateau, which currently expands without any real purpose. In the long run, he would like to make additions to the front of Johnson, demolish Battell and build a new Cook Commons dormitory slightly west of its current position. These changes will ultimately create a Le Chateau Quad, which Dennis would equip with more-logically positioned paths. A tree-lined walkway, similar to the projected Old Chapel Walk, will replace the service road, and a diagonal path toward Bicentennial Hall will accommodate bikes and service vehicles.

The Commons Debate

The Master Plan seeks to foster community and enhance the commons system - though proposals to accomplish these aims have evolved drastically over the 20-month drafting process. Last year, in an open forum similar to the Jan. 10 meeting, Dennis described his desire to extend the commons to the entire campus by making them more geographically contiguous. He wanted to model the system after historical houses or colleges at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton - with dormitories grouped around a quad, as well as private dining halls and public social spaces. In contrast, the College's commons - Wonnacott and Brainerd, in particular - are sprawled across campus, lacking a strong physical sense of identity.

The 2006 edition of the Master Plan included a completion of Wonnacott, Brainerd and Cook Commons, modeled after Ross and Atwater's current set-up. Wonnacott dormitories would sit parallel to College Street, while Cook would surround Battell Beach and Brainerd would remain in the southern portion of campus. All students would eventually live within their commons area on campus.

Last year's plans, however, proved inadequate. They addressed senior housing first, leaving first-year Wonnacott and Cook students still residing in Battell, as opposed to their own respective Commons. Moreover, it did not address the lack of Cook sophomore housing, and seniors returning from abroad expressed less desire to live within the Commons system.

During the presentation of the 2007 Master Plan, Dennis described several changes to his earlier proposals. College officials have unveiled a Two-Year Commons strategy, requiring first- and second-year students to hou
se with their commons, while allowing juniors and seniors the freedom to live anywhere on campus through an open room draw system.

The 2007 Master Plan gives Cook the new dormitory on Battell Beach, but grants Wonnacott an additional dormitory south of College Street. It therefore addresses underclassmen Commons housing first, but also contains provisions for improving housing equity among upperclassmen in the future. The Master Plan anticipates the addition of an extra residence hall as swing space during renovations - which are likely possibilities for Forest, Stewart and Hepburn Halls. Dennis expects that, in time, every student will live on campus, though not all housing will be commons-based.

Student Life: Dining, Work and Play

The 2007 Master Plan also includes improvements to College dining space. Earlier drafts proposed five separate dining halls - one for each commons - but planners now recommend that current dining halls remain open to all students and members of staff. In the next 10 to 15 years, Proctor Dining Hall will be renovated and potentially relocated, perhaps as part of a new residential building in the Hillcrest area. As dining would then be situated at the peripheral ends of campus, the Master Plan considers transforming McCullough Student Center into a central dining facility. This change will provide a closer venue for students commuting from the CFA or athletic buildings, and it will accommodate the dining needs of summer Language School participants.

Dennis suggested additional modifications to enrich academic and social life. As students currently lack sufficient space for organization meetings and social functions, the Master Plan includes rehearsal rooms and multi-purpose areas in the Proctor renovation, new dormitories and the transformed McCullough building. Eventually, Dennis would like to put the Campus Student Center in a more central location, such as the southern end of Le Chateau Quad, and equip it with a multi-use ballroom, offices, storage, flexible rehearsal rooms and various venues - ranging from a coffee shop to a restaurant and pub. The Master Plan further calls for new buildings to hold classrooms and faculty offices, as well as a consolidation of academic departments and the creation of open, shared departmental spaces for faculty use.

The open forum closed with a question-answer session and public comments. There was some concern that while the plan does incorporate numerous multi-use spaces, it does not include an indoor venue large enough for the entire student body, which might be used for concerts and other social events. However, for the most part, response was positive.

"I liked the idea of planting new trees and plants," said Catherine Ahearn '11. "That will make things look really nice. And drainage for the fields is key."

Aiko Weverka '09, who is currently taking a landscaping analysis class during Winter Term, echoed Ahearn's remarks.

"It's really interesting to see what [the campus] is supposed to be like, especially having read past Master Plans. The pictures are amazing … but you know they're just 3-D depictions, so it will be interesting to see how much of it gets off the ground."

Dennis emphasized his desire to reflect the College's unique character with each new addition, renovation and change.

"What we do," he said, "is listen to you and your values and look at the place and try to transcribe those into a plan." As the Master Plan goes forward to the Board of Trustees - and Dennis continues his work - students, faculty and residents look forward to 50 years of development, and the possibility that the proposals and sketches will finally become a physical reality.