Facilities in planning to address student life and academic needs

Posted 11/21/00

Planning is under way at Dartmouth for a range of new facilities to meet needs in the areas of student life and academics.

The Dartmouth Board of Trustees approved several new facilities at their November meeting:

• Two new student residence halls, to accommodate 500-600 undergraduates.
• A new dining and social facility north of Maynard Street.
• An additional building for the Thayer School of Engineering.

In addition, planning efforts are under way for:

• Kemeny Hall, a new home for the Department of Mathematics (previously approved by the Trustees).
• Expansion of facilities for the academic departments in the arts, the Hopkins Center and the Hood Museum of Art.
• A new building for the departments in the Life Sciences.

The new residence halls and dining/social facility are part of the implementation of Dartmouth's Student Life Initiative (SLI), which seeks to expand the range of options available for student activities and to better integrate learning inside and outside the classroom at Dartmouth. Various assessments of Dartmouth's academic facilities needs have given rise to the planning for the academic facilities.

Student Life Initiative (SLI) Projects

The Trustees authorized planning for one new undergraduate residence hall north of Maynard street on the north side of the campus, and a new dining and social facility to be located at the corner of Maynard and North College streets. They also authorized planning for another undergraduate residence hall along Tuck Drive near Butterfield Hall, on the west side of campus. Together, the two residence halls will accommodate, within the next five to ten years, a total of 500-600 undergraduates (300-350 in the north-side facility, 190-260 in the west-side facility). The dining and social facility is also expected to include meeting and social space for graduate students. Interviews with architects are scheduled for December 2000.

The new residences and the dining/social facility will address recommendations about space needs that were developed by the Trustee Committee on the Student Life Initiative.

Meanwhile, work is progressing on implementation of all the SLI recommendations approved by the Trustees last spring. A variety of individuals, offices and organizations throughout the College - coordinated by the Dean of the College Office - are pursuing plans and actions to implement the recommendations. Some projects have already been completed, including site determinations for the facilities outlined above, and others are aiming at completion dates ranging from January of 2001 through 2010.

Academic Facilities

Thayer School of Engineering
The Trustees authorized the Dean of the Thayer School to proceed with fundraising and planning efforts for a new building for the Thayer School. The proposed building, to be located off the southwest corner of Cummings Hall (which presently houses all of the Thayer School's operations) will provide a mix of classroom, laboratory and office space and will cover approximately 65,000 gross square feet. The facility will address expansion needs of the Thayer School articulated in a report presented to the Thayer School's Board of Overseers in October 2000. The scope of the project is not intended to meet all of the School's comprehensive facilities needs, which will require subsequent renovations of Cummings Hall.

Kemeny Hall
Kemeny Hall, the new home for the Department of Mathematics - to be named for the late John G. Kemeny, 13th President of Dartmouth - will be located in the part of campus now occupied by Bradley Court and the building which formerly housed the Kiewit Computation Center. The building is expected to cover approximately 55,000 gross square feet. Architects for the project will be interviewed in November 2000, and design of the facility is scheduled to being in early 2001.

Life Sciences Building
Given a clear future need for additional space for Life Sciences academic departments, a study committee is at work to outline both the scope of such a project and to examine how such a facility would relate to the existing Gilman biology facility and existing Dartmouth Medical School facilities. The committee is working with representatives of the Provost's Office, the Dean of the Faculty Office and the Medical School. Planning for this facility is moving ahead aggressively.

Arts Facilities

The academic departments in the arts - Drama, Music, Film Studies, and Studio Art - have pressing space needs, and expansion needs have been identified for both the Hopkins Center and the Hood Museum of Art to accommodate growing programs in the arts. Campus Master Planner Lo-Yi Chan has prepared a preliminary study of the arts quadrant of the campus from the master plan point of view. Rogers Marvel Architects has been retained to update a 1997 survey of expansion needs and to develop conceptual plans and cost estimates for expanded facilities, a process which is now under way.