Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2003/10/23/student_id_no_24601.php
Thursday, October 23, 2003
At this year's Convocation ceremony, James Wright kicked off the new school year with a speech and a promise. In his speech he spoke of the value of the humanities in a successful liberal arts education. His promise revealed tentative plans for the College's forthcoming building project. The project, an array of new facilities to be completed over the next several years, will extend Dartmouth's Campus northward in the vicinity of the Dartmouth Medical School.
Proposed buildings include several undergraduate residence halls, Kemeny Hall (a home for the Department of Mathematics), a new dining facility, a new engineering building for the Thayer School, and an addition to the Sudikoff Computer Science Laboratory.
Two of the proposed 150-bed dormitories, intended to help alleviate Dartmouth's on-campus housing shortage, will be situated along with the new dining facility near the corner of North College and Maynard Streets. Kemeny Hall will be located north of Baker-Berry Library, allowing for the destruction of Bradley and Gerry Halls. The Thayer building and the Sudikoff addition will be adjacent to Cummings Hall and the present Sudikoff Lab, respectively. After these projects are completed, the College will move forward with other long-range projects, including more undergraduate residence halls, another residence hall for the Tuck School, a new facility for several arts departments, and more space for the Department of Biological Sciences, the Medical School.
College officials are thrilled by the building projects. Said College Provost Barry Scherr, "We are very excited to be moving these key projects forward. We also look forward to working with town boards and officials, and to communicating with our neighbors about these projects."
The latter part of statement must take particular precedence, as previous construction attempts by the College have met with opposition from neighbors. In 2002, the Hanover Neighborhood Association successfully opposed the College's plan, and had been working to limit further Dartmouth's northward expansion by attempting to pass zoning amendments.
Nevertheless, Dartmouth has received considerable support on the expansion—alumni have thus far donated over $90 million to the project—and expects to start some phases of the project in the coming year. Dartmouth Trustee Russell Carson noted, "These building programs will enable us to provide outstanding residential space to more students who want to live on campus, and to carry out more effectively the College's academic priorities in many different areas."
The building needs "will do so much to enhance the academic and out-of-classroom experience, reinforcing the intellectual vibrancy of the Dartmouth community," said Wright.