VIDEO: Campus Construction Projects Under Way This Fall at Dartmouth College
Tue October 31, 2023 - Northeast Edition The Dartmouth
Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in Hanover, N.H., has crews working across the scenic campus this fall on several building projects, including the expansion of its Hopkins Center for the Arts, a renewal of the Rauner Special Collections Library, and the first phase in a long-term initiative to renovate 60 percent of the university's residence halls.
Hopkins Center for the Arts
The Dartmouth, the university's student newspaper, noted in early October that the college began renovations at the Hopkins Center, known on campus as "the Hop", in December 2022 to add a new 15,000 sq.-ft. wing and remodel 55,000 sq. feet of existing space.
Following the completed renovation, expected in 2025, visitors will have access to modern technologies such as a performance lab, augmented documentation technology in the Spaulding Auditorium, improved acoustics throughout the building and a focus on accessibility.
"Opening up [the Hopkins Center] will be a process," said Josh Keniston, senior vice president of campus operations at Dartmouth. "But because they are technically complex spaces, there will be a period of time where we actually are testing the spaces out and figuring out how to use all the new equipment. That will all happen in 2025."
Dartmouth has allocated $88 million to the renovations as part of its Call to Lead fundraising campaign. Nearly 100,000 donors have committed more than $3.77 billion to the campaign, which Keniston noted "really reflects the impact of the Hop both in the community and alums that are really excited about where we're going."
Rauner Special Collections Library
The $6.5 million construction project on the exterior of Rauner Library will restore the 116-year-old building's roof and fix damage to cracked copper detailing, cornices, and decorative corbels, according to the library's website. The project began this summer but will slow in the winter, Keniston added, when masonry work on the back steps and brickwork becomes too difficult to perform.
"For some of our buildings, where they develop small cracks and water gets in there, the freeze-thaw cycle can accelerate that deterioration," he explained. "And so [Rauner Library] deteriorated more quickly than we expected, which is why we're now doing that project."
The library will remain fully open to students and the public throughout the construction process, with continued access to study spaces, the Special Collections' texts, and classrooms, according to The Dartmouth.
Officials at the facility, led by Rauner Library head Jay Satterfield, have worked to limit disruptions to student life, Rauner Library fellow Elizabeth Hadley (Class of '23) told the student news source.
"Jay Satterfield is very good about making sure that the construction noise kind of halts during classes," she said. "So, he'll send an email to the [construction] team and say, ‘We need it to be quiet during these times' so disruptions during classes don't happen."
Renovations, Additions Planned for Campus Housing
Dartmouth also intends to renovate 60 percent of its current undergraduate housing, beginning with Andres Hall, Zimmerman Hall and Brace Commons in East Wheelock House. Andres will re-open later this fall, while Zimmerman and Brace Commons will remain under construction until the fall of 2024, according to the university's Campus Services website.
These housing renovations aim to "update the buildings, create a more comfortable living environment for students and also improve the layout," Keniston said.
Though upperclassmen are not ensured on-campus housing, he added that Dartmouth will "continue to have students living at Summit on Juniper," an off-campus and privately-owned residential community that predominantly houses graduate students.
Garrett Chao, who currently lives at Summit on Juniper, described his residential experience to be mostly positive due to the complex's amenities, which include a gym, personal washer-dryer unit, a shower and kitchen. He added, however, that the main drawback is "its distance from campus," as it takes 20 minutes to get to and from the university.
While off-campus housing is an option for upperclassmen, Chao added that "it is probably not a major solution to the housing crisis."
Looking forward, Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock announced in her inaugural address in June that the college will introduce "at least 1,000 new beds for undergraduate, graduate, staff and faculty housing within the next decade." Dartmouth officials also unveiled construction plans at 25 West Wheelock St. and the North End Project to satisfy this commitment.
In her address, Beilock also called for "an aggressive push to achieve carbon zero on campus." While new buildings will limit the addition of carbon, Keniston said renovations on pre-existing housing are "climate efficient" to make them environmentally sound.
"Renovated buildings feature certain dynamics of old brick buildings, meaning that there are limits to how much insulation you can put in," he explained. "New buildings, on the other hand, will be held to incredibly high standards. Dartmouth's ultimate goal is to improve the overall efficiency of the buildings, including implementing non-combustion technology to heat and cool the buildings."
