Expansion of Dartmouth College

By Arthur J. Monaco | Wednesday, June 12, 1996

The story of northward campus expansion has been ongoing since 1989, when this paper first published the administration's plans for expansion north of Baker Library. Since that time, the administration has repeatedly attempted to cover up their plans for expansion, even in the face of material evidence. Recent issues of this paper have sought to bring the issues of expansion back to the public eye.

Library

In 1992, alumni provided money to construct an addition to Baker Library. John W. Berry '44 donated $25 million. A foundation in the name of his son, Loren Berry, donated $1 million, as did George Berry '66. The remaining $3 million was donated by George F. Baker III, the grandson of George Fisher Baker. The library addition, to be called Berry Library, will be designed by the architectural firm Venturi, Scott Brown, working in conjunction with Jeffrey Freeman of the Shepley Bullfinch firm.

The new library will connect to Baker in a "seamless manner," allowing free movement between the two buildings. It will extend north of Baker across Elm Street. In order to make the project possible, the College gave its soccer fields near Sachem Village to the Town of Hanover in exchange for Elm Street. The College then acquired and demolished the building which housed Dragon secret society. It stood within Berry's proposed footprint. The Bradley-Gerry math and psychology complex are likely to be demolished as well for the same reasons.

The first stage of library expansion is already underway. The College's Special Collections and Rare Books will be moved from Baker to Webster Hall to make room for Berry facilities, and an underground closed-stock storage facility is planned between Baker and Webster. Webster Hall itself will undergo significant renovation in the process. The outside of the building will not be changed, but inside a glass gallery for Special Collections will be constructed. Webster's balconies will be flattened to provide a study space for students. Work on Webster Hall will likely begin this summer. Construction on Berry Library may begin as early as 1997. If all goes well, the new library may open its doors by 2000.

More Students

A report by the Arts and Sciences Planning Committee, leaked to The Dartmouth Review in September of 1989, called for a 70 to 80% increase in the student population, a 100% increase in the size of the faculty, and a 30% increase in the size of the campus. The increase would bring the total graduate and undergraduate population to 9,000. This paper obtained a College building capacity chart which clearly outlined plans for an expansion to 7,500 students, then to 9,000 students.

Subsequent plans obtained by The Dartmouth Review indicated that the near doubling of the size of the undergraduate student body had been abandoned in favor of a small increase in undergraduate population to 4,200 students. This leaves the door open, perhaps even more so than ever before, for an increase in Dartmouth's graduate population.

These students would be accommodated in an expanded campus to extend north of Baker Library. Three plans for the expansion were drawn up — a "quad scheme," a "romantic scheme," and a "duck pond" scheme, each plan's name reflecting the character of the new campus. Director of Facilities and Planning Gordon DeWitt, who oversees all new construction, said in 1990, "We have decided internally here that the quad scheme makes the most sense."

The quad scheme would involve the creation of another quadrangle north of
Baker — a North Green. Berry Library would serve as the centerpiece for this new Green, just as Baker Library is the centerpiece for the current Green. Meanwhile, the College contacted a pool of potential architects to submit design proposals for a north campus. The firm Venturi, Scott Brown, which had worked previously on the addition to Thayer Engineering School, was selected to design the new campus.

In 1990 it was revealed that Venturi, Scott Brown had drawn up two separate plans for the new campus. Both plans would begin with the construction of the new Berry Library. The "West Side" option would add three academic buildings on the west side of the new Green. The "Gateway" option would add one building on each side of the new Green at its north end.

1991 was a busy one on the expansion front, with the beginning of construction of a new chemistry building, completed in 1992. Also in 1991 the College's hospital facilities were moved from north of Baker, where they would stand in the way of expansion, to Lebanon. The old hospital has since been demolished.

In the summer of 1991 the College undertook a massive expansion of the existing steam tunnel running north under the Green. Although College spokesman Alex Hupp claimed that the steam tunnel was under construction merely to "support the new chemistry building," it nearly doubled the College's heating capacity from 120,000 to 200,000 pounds of steam per hour.

Plans now available in the Facilities Planning Office indicate that a new psychology building will be built on the northwest corner of the planned North Green by 2003. The building will be roughly 80,000 square feet, and its location is consistent with both the West Side plan and the Gateway plan for the north campus. Next, plans are being considered to provide the math department with its own building. Originally, the College had planned to build the new building on the northeast corner of the new quad. This plan was dismissed as impractical.

Currently, the College is studying the possibility of an alternate plan to shuffle academic departments around while new buildings are being constructed. First, the north and south wings of Wilder Hall would be remodeled. The physics department would then move out of Steele and Fairchild and into Wilder. Steele Hall, unchanged since the 1930's, would be renovated. The earth sciences and environmental studies departments would move into Steele. Geography would move into the area of Silsby that formerly housed psychology. Fairchild would become the new math building.

Except for administrative confirmation of the new psychology building, then, the face of the north campus is still up in the air.

Campus Discussion

Whether College expansion is desirable or not is arguable, though most current students and alumni who remember Dartmouth as Daniel Webster's "small college" agree that college expansion may not be the best idea. While the College could certainly benefit from an open discussion about expansion, the administration has been less than forthcoming regarding the issue. Their tactic has been to provide as few details as possible, until actual construction begins. In 1993, four years after the original expansion plans were published in The Dartmouth Review, The Review asked College spokesman Alex Hupp about plans for expansion. Huppé replied, "What surrounding quad?... What new Green?... Could you tell me more about this new Green? I haven't heard about it... I'm not familiar with the new quad." This year, when asked about the administration's expansion plans, Dean of the College Lee Pelton maintained, "I am unaware of any plans to expand or create a north campus. I am, of course, aware of the demolition of the hospital. I am not involved in that project."

Since this paper brought expansion back into the public eye, Dartmouth students have begun to act. Fliers have appeared in dormitories remarking "Expansion? We don't need no stinkin' expansion!" and invoking the aforementioned Daniel Webster's defense of Dartmouth College as "a small college."

Furthermore, the Dartmouth, long silent on expansion issues, has printed stories providing some details of expansion. The Student Assembly circulated a flier asking students about their gripes. Listed among the possibilities was expansion.

Finally, the administration just announced that the "Concept Plan" which guides changes to the campus will be revamped to include interviews with administrators, faculty, students, and alumni regarding campus alterations. This is a step in the right direction, but given the administration's track record in concealing potentially unpopular plans from students and alumni, vigilance is still prudent.

Expansion of Dartmouth College

Article Tools

Related Articles