Colleges under construction

Vermont Business Magazine, Aug 01, 2004 by Brush, Cassandra Hemenway

While Vermont's students prepare to break open books next month, many of the colleges in which they are enrolled will break ground this summer. Most of Vermont's institutes of higher learning are constructing residence halls and libraries, and fixing up old buildings like they're going out of style.

The spate of new buildings will relieve tight housing markets in cities such as Montpelier and Burlington. They also keep Vermont competitive in an age when prospective students expect a high-tech infrastructure, even within a rugged landscape.

Marlboro College recently doubled its library capacity when it opened the Aron Library Wing last September. The donorfunded $3.2 million project not only opened up space for new volumes, but finally brought light into a building so dark "we had to stand on a chair and hold a solar calculator to the ceiling in order to use it one winter night," said Library Director Mary White.

Marlboro also added a dormitory last year after experiencing a surge in oncampus housing needs.

"The trend seemed to be that not only does it make economic sense to be on campus, but there's a desire to be part of a community," said Lisa Christensen, Director of Development and Communications at Marlboro.

"I'm hearing from other colleges that on-campus housing is really a priority," she said.

Christensen said the dorm and the library expansion are part of a $10 million longrange "campus renewal program."

Also part of the plan is the $2.8 million performing arts building for which contractors recently broke ground. Also gift-funded, the center will consist of two buildings connected by a lobby, one for dance instruction, the other for music instruction, and featuring a 125-seat "acoustically excellent" performance hall.

"It's a very sexy building for a very rustic campus," said Christensen. "We're excited."

Middlebury College, too, is close to completing two new residence halls and a new library. Middlebury just opened it's new $40 million, 147,000 square-foot library. The building houses over 1 million items, according to Tom McGinn, Middlebury's Project Manager for the Facilities Planning Department.

The college has also completed a residential cluster known as Roth Commons. It is now finishing another cluster called Atwater, including two new residential halls containing 156 beds, plus a new dining hall. The residential project cost $32 million, McGinn said.

A slight increase in enrollment up to about 2,400 on campus per year partially spurred the project, he said. But increased expectations from potential students also played a role.

With tuition just shy of $40,000 a year, Middlebury "is competing for the best students," McGinn said. "You have to have the best facilities. Students expect it."

The best facilities, he said, means every seat in the library is wired for high speed internet access, for example. With the stock market doing better and endowments growing, this is a good time for construction, he added.

Middlebury also plans to renovate the oldest remaining dining hall on campus, and an empty building that housed the library over a century ago. Both projects are in the initial planning stages.

Vermont State Colleges in Lyndon and Castleton are also getting new dorms. Lyndon's $6 million project includes three interconnected buildings: two dormitories and a community center. According to Bob Cummings, Director of Facilities for all the state colleges, contractors are still blasting ledge for construction. The buildings will provide 45 student rooms and a community center for both college and community use. Increased enrollment at Lyndon prompted the project, he said.

Castleton State College's $6 million dormitory features three stories of housing, plus a fitness center fitted with a climbing wall. Enrollments are up there, too, said Cummings. But the state college construction that really animates Cummings is Community College of Vermont's very first teaching facility CCV offers classes throughout Vermont, but the $2.6 million 15,000 square foot mini-campus in the town of Wilder will be the first that actually belongs to the college.

"Over the years CCV has grown tremendously," said Cummings. "That's a very exciting project for Vermont State Colleges ... The whole concept of a community college is just booming, because anyone can go to school at anytime."

Cummings said he sees increased construction in general on college campuses.

"It seems to be a countrywide phenomenon," he said. "There's a lot of construction because enrollments are up. There's more kids who want to go to school, especially in the Northeast."

Increasing enrollment is one of the points outlined in University of Vermont's President Dan Fogel's vision statement. Fogel wants to see 2,000 more students entering UVM over the next 10 years. That's one reason UVM recently broke ground on a new residence hall and a parking garage.

The University Heights "student residential learning complex "will add 800 beds to a campus that caters to over 10,000 students.