The Hop expansion is going to take over the existing Alumni Hall as a performing-arts space. This makes sense: the big room is right there in the heart of things and seems to be underused.

Although Dartmouth has had an “alumni hall” only since 1962, the idea is worth continuing. In the Hop, the hall is a big multipurpose space that, although not as practical as Spaulding for alumni meetings, is distinguished from all other spaces by its decoration: it attempts to serve as a chamber of memory and sentiment. The Dartmouth Green walls display wooden recognition plaques and banners with the college seal and arms of the second earl of Dartmouth.

A new alumni hall should be a freestanding building; where should it be erected? The most prominent site is the vacant lot in front of Sherman, but that site should be reserved for a future library. What about the vacant lot north of Parkhurst, as an addition to Blunt Alumni Center? A major wing there could create a new and compatible façade in the rhythm of Administration Row.