To: The Campus Community

From: Russell Osgood

Date: June 26, 2002

Re: Campus Plan Update

It has been two years since the Board accepted the Campus Plan developed by Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. This plan identified our space needs and set out a framework for contemplating which facility projects to pursue further. It helped us to think about foreseeable needs and a realistic sequencing of any facility projects (so as to avoid, for example, trying to build a residence hall on the old softball field without another site at which the softball team can play). As a framework, plans are meant to accommodate change and ours has. Set out below is an update on those facilities that have been authorized or are being planned at this time.

I. Authorized Facilities

A. Athletic Fields

Last fall, we completed construction of new athletic fields north of Tenth Avenue (and east of the railroad tracks). The softball team, which needed a replacement field (to accommodate the construction of the new residence halls), played its home games on these fields in the spring. In the fall, both men's and women's soccer will move to our new athletic fields and our football team will practice there as well.

B. The Chrystal Center

The Campus Plan recommended that we move the Offices of Admission and Financial Aid to a prominent location that would be easy for visitors to find: the corner of Sixth Avenue and Park Street. This fall, we will open the Chrystal Center, designed by Herbert Lewis Kruse and Blunck, which will house the Office of the Registrar, our Cashier, and the Office of Institutional Research in addition to the Offices of Admission and Financial Aid.

C. Energy Centers and Related Infrastructure

Our planners and engineers recognized at the beginning of the planning process, that any new facility would require additional heating and cooling capacity and an improved distribution system. This meant that a new heating/cooling facility would need to be completed before any other new building. As a result, we contracted with Ericksen Ellison to design a facility that would accommodate these needs. The architects ultimately recommended that we build a separate heating plant, north of Cowles, and renovate the current heating/cooling plant to serve as a chilling plant. The heating plant is near completion and the current combined plant will be converted to a chilling plant over the next year. In addition, we are in the process of laying improved distribution lines underground throughout campus to ensure that large facilities are connected to our heating/cooling system.

D. Residence Halls

The Campus Plan recommended that we add five residence halls to be built on a new "East Campus," north of Eighth Avenue and east of the railroad tracks. Consistent with the plan, we contracted with William Rawn and Associates to design residence halls for that site and we are currently building four of them. We project that three of the four halls will be completed by August of 2003 and the fourth one will be completed during the fall of 2003.

E. Facilities Management

The Office of Facilities Management moved into a new building on the east side of town this spring (Sixth Avenue and Penrose). As a result, the current Facilities Management building will be demolished this summer to open up access to the new athletic fields to the north and provide space for outdoor tennis courts (should we need to move the current tennis courts to make way for a new fieldhouse/recreation center).

F. Campus Center

The need for a new campus center was one of the motivating factors behind originally undertaking the campus planning process. Recognizing this need, the College has engaged Cesar Pelli and Associates to design a new campus center, to be named for Joe Rosenfield and sited at the center of campus. We are currently in the design phase and Cesar Pelli projects that construction will begin in the late winter, 2004 and completed by the spring of 2006.

The Board is also prepared to authorize the demolition of Darby Gymnasium, which the current Campus Center design contemplates.

G. Phase II of the Noyce Science Center

We have one of the most successful science facilities in the nation. When renovated in the mid-nineties, we contemplated a second phase to further improve the spaces for the sciences. In May, the Board authorized the College to engage Holabird & Root and Research Facilities Design (the planners and designers of Phase I) to plan and design Phase II of the Noyce Science Center. The program for the second phase is completed; we project that the design will be finished by March of 2004 and that construction could be completed by March of 2006.

II. Additional Planning- Facilities

A. Athletic Facilities

Last year, we engaged the firm of Cannon Design to develop a program and conceptual design for an overall athletic complex, including a new fieldhouse/recreation center. This planning reflected the belief of many that our athletic/recreation spaces should be improved. In addition, from a sequencing perspective, we will need another space for those athletic functions currently housed in Darby Gymnasium, should it be demolished.

B. Sequencing

Over the last 4 months, we have engaged in a complicated process of determining where we could relocate offices and functions that will need to move as a result of the construction of the Chrystal Center, the new residence halls, the Campus Center, and Phase II of the Noyce Science Center. For example, should Darby come down, several offices and functions, such as the Office of Information Technology Services and KDIC, will need to move elsewhere. In addition, we have been exploring the best uses of Mears Cottage, which will be completely vacant when the Chrystal Center is occupied in the fall.

Sequencing planning is not a one-time effort. Rather, it is part of an ongoing process to ensure that we have viable spaces, either temporary or permanent, for all offices and functions affected by the construction of new facilities.