A further update on the Inn addition

Posted on 28.04.2012 by Regisseur

The Valley News reports that the project’s first phase will finish by June, “even as the price of the project has skyrocketed and town officials say the college may have underestimated the scope of the work.” Google’s Street View sort of shows where the addition is going. The Town’s Flickr stream has a mid-1960s photo that shows a clean Scout driving in the foreground and the original 1880s Inn being demolished in the background. The Inn’s 1923 wing, also visible, still stands.

Images of selective demolition are on line from contractor Dectam, including photos of some guest rooms without walls, only bathtubs; a team of workers going after the exterior concrete pavers; and the demolition of the lobby plaza area wall.

Dana Lowe, a subcontractor on the project, died on March 13th after a construction accident involving a crane and a scissor-lift (The Dartmouth).

—–
[Update 03.31.2013: Broken link to Dectam replaced.]

The Inn’s new conference center to be named for John Minary

Posted on 26.04.2012 by Regisseur

From the April 23 press release (pdf):

November 2012: The Minary Conference Center opens, encompassing a grand ballroom with 3,933 square feet of meeting and event space capable of accommodating up to 330 people. The area also includes three executive meeting rooms.

The previous Minary Center was a 1928 house on Squam Lake that William S. Paley gave the college in 1970 honor of John Minary ’29. The college used it as a conference center until it sold the property in 2010.

Further details of the Inn’s novel features:

The November grand opening will introduce a new fitness center for Inn guests, 14 additional guest rooms including an oversized suite overlooking Main Street, for a total of 108 rooms. The Inn’s new signature restaurant, currently being designed by one of New England’s best-known chefs, will open, serving lunch and dinner in a prime location — at the corner of Main and Wheelock Streets. The smaller dining space will transition to serving breakfast only and will be available as additional reception space and for private events following the opening of the larger restaurant.

Hanover’s first purpose-built sorority house

Posted on 26.04.2012 by Regisseur

Although Dartmouth probably deserves criticism for what appears to be a failure to maintain Larson’s faculty apartment house at 2 North Park Street, the college might be working to redeem itself by building a quality replacement: a new sorority house designed by Haynes & Garthwaite of Norwich. The article in The Dartmouth has a photo of the house under construction.

The article notes that Alpha Phi was originally meant to occupy the historic house at 26 East Wheelock, next door to KKG (see Dartmouth Life, October 2008). Town zoning prohibited that change of use, and putting the sorority closer to the Green would seem to be better for the group and better for the campus.

Dartmouth sells its CRREL land to the Army after 50 years of subsidies

Posted on 24.04.2012 by Regisseur

The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory on Lyme Road is not only the state’s largest industrial facility, it also represents the U.S. Army’s only presence in New Hampshire.

For the last half-century, Dartmouth has owned most of the land underlying the laboratory, and the Corps of Engineers has paid essentially nothing to use it. Now that the original $1 lease signed in 1962 has ended (The Dartmouth), the college has decided to sell the property to the Corps for $18.6m (Valley News).

A Google Maps view of the CRREL property, with the golf course at lower left and Dartmouth’s once-and-future Rivercrest housing development at top.

Finances aside, the loss of control over this property creates a danger that some unappealing future development could move in if CRREL were to leave: one presumes that Dartmouth has retained a right of first refusal for any future sale. At least this sale removes a potential site on which the Tuck School could (obviously unwisely) build a new campus.

The Black Arts Center will open in September

Posted on 22.04.2012 by Regisseur

At the end of last month Dartmouth has named its new visual arts building The Black Family Visual Arts Center (Dartmouth Now, The Dartmouth). The name honors Leon ’73 and Debra Black, who donated $48 million to the project.

The photo accompanying the article in The Dartmouth shows the building before its Norwegian slate exterior was attached. The Planner’s blog had a post in January about the slate going up. See also before and after Street Views of Brewster and Clement halls, the buildings that were demolished to make room for the arts center.

Yes, Wilson will become the Hood’s main entrance

Posted on 19.04.2012 by Regisseur

Dartmouth is putting into effect that Centerbrook master plan noted here on the 4th.

The college took proposals from four firms and today announced the selection of Tod Williams Billie Tsien as the architects for the project (Office of Public Affairs Press Release, Times ArtsBeat).

The project will add museum space behind Wilson Hall, renovate Wilson itself, and turn Wilson’s great arched entrance into the main entrance for the whole Hood Museum complex.

It is difficult to emphasize too much the importance of Wilson’s arch. When Dartmouth published some of Robert Frost’s reminiscences about how he decided, in Wilson Library, to become a poet, it titled the pamphlet “Under That Arch” (American Memory).

Luckily the granite lintel bearing Wilson’s name is not very prominent and can be left in place. A new glass entrance pavilion projecting from the arch or attached to the front of the building will be able to display Hood’s name. The firm’s David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (image) suggests one approach the firm could use.

During 1996 I spent about a month living in a Williams/Tsien building at U.Va. (Hereford College, 1992). I had some reservations about the overall project, a residential college on the back of a hill far from the center of campus (map). Because it is sited on a slope, it has trouble enclosing the sort of meaningful outdoor spaces you would expect: it is an arrangement of objects in a park. But I was impressed by the cool and serious Modernism of the individual buildings and their willingness to adopt a monumental scale when required (images from Tinmanic’s Flickr photostream and Wikipedia) . I liked the use of what I assume are local brick and slate on the exterior, and although the cinderblock interior was not ideal for a dormitory, it had a sternness that would be appropriate for a museum.

The firm’s work is serious and purposeful rather than frivolous, and in small doses it could create an exciting tension with Wilson’s Romanesque arches, the Hood’s Postmodern whimsy, and the Hop’s Modernist Expressionism.

—–

[Update 05.12.2013: Two links to Flash content on TWBTA site remove.]

[Update 07.07.2012: The Hood has a roundup of coverage of the announcement. Thanks to Alex Hanson for the quotes in the Valley News article (Hood-supplied pdf).]

Renaming the Medical School

Posted on 04.04.2012 by Regisseur

Dartmouth has changed the name of its medical school¹Inspired by a recent article in Businessweek on the cost of naming rights for business schools, this morning I jotted down the idea for a post on Dartmouth’s offer of naming rights for its medical school, an offer previously noted here in 2005. It was not ten minutes later that I received the announcement, presumably held for release until after April Fool’s Day, that Dartmouth had named its medical school after Dr. Seuss. from the Dartmouth Medical School to the Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Dr. Seuss, as Dartmouth’s most famous “doctor” [of philosophy], would seem to be as good a namesake as any.

Now the medical school fits the pattern established by Dartmouth’s two later professional schools. The current names of the three institutions seem to be:

The Tuck School (the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College)
Thayer School (the Thayer School of Engineering)
The Geisel School (the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth).

The Medical School has a long tradition of changing its name, and it sometimes goes by several names at once. An 1897 note titled “Name of the School” reads:

The name of the Medical Department seems to have changed several times. In 1806 the broadside list of students is headed: “Catalogue of the Medical Students and Students of College who attended the Medical Lectures at Dartmouth University” (as far back as Sept. 20, 1782, the Trustees passed a resolution styling the College a University); that of 1811, “Catalogue of the Dartmouth Medical Theatre;” that of 1814, “Catalogue of the Medical Institution at Dartmouth University;” that of 1817, “Catalogue of the Dartmouth Medical Institution.” At some time between this date and 1824 the name “New Hampshire Medical Institution” began to be used and was retained until 1880 though the official title has always been the “Medical Department of Dartmouth College.”²Phineas S. Conner, Historical Address, in “Dartmouth Medical College Centennial Exercises” (1897), 27.

The name “the Medical Department,” which is not explained by the note, was in use at least by 1812.³Dartmouth Trustees meeting minutes (1812), quoted in Conner, 57. Other examples include “the Medical College” (1871,⁴Medical faculty meeting minutes (1871), quoted in Conner, 61. 1880,⁵Oliver P. Hubbard, The Early History of the New Hampshire Medical Institution (Washington, D.C.: Oliver P. Hubbard, 1880), 37. 1883⁶Medical faculty meeting minutes (1883), quoted in Conner, 61.), “the Dartmouth Medical College” (1868,⁷Medical faculty meeting minutes (1868), quoted in Conner, 56. 1895,⁸Dartmouth medical faculty meeting minutes (1895), quoted in Conner, 46. 1897⁹Conner, 22.), “the Medical School of New Hampshire” (1893¹⁰Petition of New Hampshire Medical Society (1893), quoted in Conner, 33.), “the Medical Institution at Hanover” (1893¹¹Petition (1893), quoted in Conner, 33.), “the Medical School” (1809¹²New Hampshire Legislature (1809), quoted in Conner, 29. Note that the school’s 1811 building, depicted on the old shield above, was itself initially called “the Medical School.”), and of course “the Dartmouth Medical School” (1880,¹³”From Abroad,” Medical Times and Gazette (11 December 1880), 660. 1897,¹⁴Conner, 17, 23.).

This would seem to be a good time to change the 1950s (?) shield again,¹⁵Jonathan Good has pointed out that the shield’s original Indian-head cane, shown above, was replaced by a conventional staff of Aesculapius during or before 2010. and it looks as if the school has already thought of that.

A pre-2010 version of the DMS shield, and the 2012 GSM shield

———————-

[Update 04.05.2012: Caduceus corrected to Aesculapius.]

[Update 04.19.2012: Suppositional name “The Geisel School of Medicine” shortened to “The Geisel School.”]

———————-

 [+]

References
↑1	Inspired by a recent article in Businessweek on the cost of naming rights for business schools, this morning I jotted down the idea for a post on Dartmouth’s offer of naming rights for its medical school, an offer previously noted here in 2005. It was not ten minutes later that I received the announcement, presumably held for release until after April Fool’s Day, that Dartmouth had named its medical school after Dr. Seuss.
↑2	Phineas S. Conner, Historical Address, in “Dartmouth Medical College Centennial Exercises” (1897), 27.
↑3	Dartmouth Trustees meeting minutes (1812), quoted in Conner, 57.
↑4	Medical faculty meeting minutes (1871), quoted in Conner, 61.
↑5	Oliver P. Hubbard, The Early History of the New Hampshire Medical Institution (Washington, D.C.: Oliver P. Hubbard, 1880), 37.
↑6	Medical faculty meeting minutes (1883), quoted in Conner, 61.
↑7	Medical faculty meeting minutes (1868), quoted in Conner, 56.
↑8	Dartmouth medical faculty meeting minutes (1895), quoted in Conner, 46.
↑9	Conner, 22.
↑10	Petition of New Hampshire Medical Society (1893), quoted in Conner, 33.
↑11	Petition (1893), quoted in Conner, 33.
↑12	New Hampshire Legislature (1809), quoted in Conner, 29. Note that the school’s 1811 building, depicted on the old shield above, was itself initially called “the Medical School.”
↑13	”From Abroad,” Medical Times and Gazette (11 December 1880), 660.
↑14	Conner, 17, 23.
↑15	Jonathan Good has pointed out that the shield’s original Indian-head cane, shown above, was replaced by a conventional staff of Aesculapius during or before 2010.

Wilson Hall could become the Hood’s main entrance

Posted on 04.04.2012 by Regisseur

Wilson Hall, from American Memory

This announcement did not get much publicity when it was published almost a year ago, but it is noteworthy: Centerbrook has completed its master plan for the Hood Museum, and the plan contains a proposal to convert the adjoining Wilson Hall into museum space.

Wilson Hall was built as the college library and picture gallery. Its attic level, with iron trusses supporting a steeply-pitched roof, was designed for the display of paintings.

After the Butterfield Museum was demolished and Baker Library was built behind it, Wilson Hall became the home of the College Museum.

Charles Moore and the architects of Centerbrook placed their Hood Museum below Wilson Hall during the early 1980s, connecting the two buildings with a whimsically-busy enclosed staircase. The firm also renovated Wilson itself for the use of the Film and Television Studies Department.

photo of interior of Wilson Hall connector to Hood

Interior of Charles Moore’s Wilson connector, view to south, May 2006

The main entrance to the Hood, of course, was hidden from the view of passers-by. Visitors have to pass through the gate and walk up a broad ramp off to the side.

Now Centerbrook proposes to demolish (presumably) the Wilson connector and replace it with a new three-level addition. New galleries, offices, and classrooms could then go into Wilson and the addition, and Wilson’s presently shadowy entry arch could become the entrance to the whole museum complex:

With some improvements for access to the handicapped, Wilson Hall’s front door will become the Hood Museum’s new principal entry and be transformed by large glass windows to convey transparency and engage passersby on the busy campus green.

Although the large glass windows are a bit worrisome, the overall plan sounds like an excellent one. Will the Hood’s original ramp-entrance remain, or will it too be altered?

——

[Update 04.05.2012: Wilson portrait gallery image added.]

Baker and Berry

Posted on 04.03.2012 by Regisseur

I. King Arthur Café.

Several weeks ago, this post was set to mention Norwich’s King Arthur Flour with a link to this Google blog post about the company. Since then, Google’s promotion of the article has become controversial. Let’s hope this ends up boosting business for King Arthur, which runs the café located off the catalogue room in Baker Library (King Arthur blog, The Dartmouth, Dartbeat).

II. Potential Baker alterations.

The Dartmouth reports that the Undergraduate Deans Office moved out of Parkhurst and into the library over the summer. The new offices appear to be temporary, with a large suite in Baker or elsewhere in the works:

These changes follow announcements made by College President Jim Yong Kim in May 2010 that the College would implement a new student advising structure beginning Fall 2011. The revamped advising structure would be modeled after a hospital triage system centralizing all relevant offices in one location where students could have their advising needs diagnosed, he said.

The deans are in Baker temporarily and will announce a new location in the spring (The Dartmouth).

III. The weathervane and the reference desk.

Ask Dartmouth has a post on Baker Tower’s weather vane. The big Berry reference desk recently was replaced with a new one of a different design (The Dartmouth).

IV. Comparing Baker and Berry.

VSBA designed major additions to two Larson buildings at Dartmouth. The first was the Thayer School addition, which was fairly popular and well-regarded when it opened. The Trustees praised it, probably thinking of the front part:

Thayer School addition, front (eastern) portion (Google Street View).

But the Thayer School addition also had a large rear component, a basic laboratory loft:

Thayer School addition, rear (western) portion (Google Street View).

The firm’s second major project was the Berry Library and Carson Hall addition to the Baker Library complex. Expected to carry over the classical pavilion from the front of the Thayer project, the firm instead replicated the loft from the rear:

Berry Library, front (north) facade (Google Street View).

—–
[Update 11.17.2012: Broken links to VSBA and Dartbeat fixed.]

On the renovated President’s House

Posted on 02.03.2012 by Regisseur

Haynes & Garthwaite designed the recent renovation of the President’s House on Webster Avenue.

In the long term, wouldn’t that building make a great center for student religious life (a new Edgerton House, for example) or a headquarters for an academic institute (a new home for the ISTS)? Either function would be able to handle the noise of Webster Avenue better than a college president can. Land is available to the west to add two more houses if more space is needed.

The president, in turn, could be installed in a new house in the residential neighborhood on Choate Road, near the Dean’s House. Purpose-built for fundraising, the President’s House could share the former Choates dormitory site with some appropriate new student housing.

map showing location proposed for new president's house

This map, based on the official campus map (pdf), shows Edgerton House, the President’s House, and the site proposed for the new President’s House in red. The new President’s House would anchor the northern terminus of the Great Mass Row Axis, also in red. Some of the other student religious centers are shown in blue.

Other possible sites for a new President’s House include the Dragon area, considered during the 1920s before the Webster Avenue site was selected; the south end of Occom Pond; the northwest corner of Rope Ferry and Clement Roads, a marvelous and prominent site that cries out for a building; and the northeast corner of Rope Ferry and Maynard.

A small addition to Thayer School

Posted on 29.02.2012 by Regisseur

Thayer School is in the process of adding a group of five offices to the roof of its building, near the mechanical equipment (via Sue).

A nice aerial photo of the business-engineering complex appears at the beginning of the video at the Thayer site.

North facade of Thayer School in June 2005

Piazza Nervi

Posted on 27.02.2012 by Regisseur

I. Background

The site where Leverone Field House and Thompson Arena face each other across South Park Street, with a couple of houses in between, is an interesting one (Google Maps aerial, aerial, street view entering from the south). It is getting some attention these days.

Leverone Field House forecourt in June 2005

First, the transit report proposes a bus shelter here (pdf).

Second, Athletic Director Harry Sheehy commented in an interview in the Alumni Magazine that the school needs another field house. Chase Fields seems a likely site, and the building could even take over a part of the Thompson parking lot facing South Park Street.

Third, the owner of the private house just below the entrance to the parking lot, at 31 1/2 South Park Street, has demolished the building and is replacing it with a three-story building containing a dental office with apartments above (Planning Board minutes Sept. 13 (pdf); see also Planning Board minutes Sept. 6 (pdf)).

All of this activity gets one thinking about the two old houses in front of Thompson Arena at 25 and 27 South Park Street, both designed by Jens F. Larson.

Thompson Arena forecourt in June 2005 showing 25 and 27 South Park

On the one hand, the presence of the two houses preserves the historic appearance of the east side of the street and maintains the rhythm of solids and voids that stretches all the way up to Wheelock Street. Number 29, the Fire & Skoal house, is also a Larson product.

The view that the houses frame is interesting and surprising — it looks like there is some kind of hangar back there, and a walk along the beach-flat ground that reveals the ribs and upturned hulk of Thompson behind the brown shingled house can create a nautical impression. Removing the houses to create a plaza would be a bit arbitrary: very few people actually walk from the front door of Leverone to the front door of Thompson.

Site plan

On the other hand, the two Nervi buildings were meant to face each other, and the two houses have always been meant to come out. Master plans have long proposed that the houses be removed and a plaza be constructed to link the two concrete arenas. The 2007 Landscape Master Plan included such a proposal (pdf). The 2000 student life master plan (pdf) notes that the entry into Thompson Arena is obscured by existing houses along Park Street:

There are, however, opportunities to reinforce the entry to Thompson Arena by moving or demolishing the College-owned houses on Park Street in front of the current entry. Doing so would relate the Arena to its cousin, Leverone Field House, both designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, and complete an intention planned but never realized.

II. Proposal

The two Larson houses at 25 and 27 could be moved across the street, above Cobra, and a plaza could be built in their place.

Proposal

The plaza would be difficult to make uniform in footprint. The two Nervi buildings do not face each other directly. Each stands a different distance from the street and rises to a different height.

Piazza Nervi would become the student entrance to the whole Chase Fields complex. Pedestrians walking down Park Street would swing diagonally across the Thompson forecourt and then head eastward. The present route into the parking lot is relatively convoluted and disappointing.

As a bonus, the piazza could tie into a new path cut westward through the Crosby-Park block. The need for this path to Lebanon Street, the only cross-block route between Wheelock and Summer Streets, has been obvious for years, and the Ped/Bike Master Plan released in October (pdf) recommends it. A long brick wall built to shield the neighbors’ houses could serve as a venue for a horizontal climbing race put on by the DOC: speed-bouldering.

III. Conclusion

The new piazza would be the first work of architecture of any kind in Hanover — whether a plaque, monument, room, or building — dedicated to an architect.

It would make a nice gateway for drivers entering the campus from the southeast. That might be its most important function.

The danger is that Piazza Nervi would be a windswept Modernist wasteland: there is a fine line between minimalism and barrenness. But something good is possible.

Thompson Arena side entrance in June 2005

Leverone Field House front facade in June 2005

—–

[Update 11.17.2012: Broken link to oblique image fixed.]

[Update 06.10.2012: Link to and quote from 2000 master plan added. Thanks to Big Green Alert: The Blog for the link here and ideas.]

More on the Inn addition

Posted on 25.02.2012 by Regisseur

The rising cost of the Inn addition has been controversial lately, and The Dartmouth now has an article about it.

It seems strange to say that “[g]reat effort has been made to preserve the Inn’s exterior” when that exterior is undistinguished at best. Perhaps this is a reaction to negative comments from alumni, cited in a previous post.

The four buildings involved here may be seen in the plan provided by Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.:

The west wing of the Inn (Larson & Wells, 1923), built with a donation from Randolph McNutt, is historic but undistinguished. It will contain the prefunction room and restrooms as shown in the plan.
The Lang Building (Larson, 1937) faces Main Street at the southwest corner of the site (the upper right of the plan). It is both historic and well done and is worth preserving. Its upper level will be given over to hotel rooms.
The Hopkins Center (Harrison & Abramowitz, 1959-1962) is a notable building by a world-class architect and must be modified carefully.
The main block of the Hanover Inn (William Benjamin Tabler, 1966-1967) is both unhistoric and undistinguished. While fairly effective at disguising the great bulk of the hotel, the Inn is only nominally Georgian in style.

Detail of plan of addition to Hanover Inn by Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.

Detail of plan of Inn addition by Cambridge Seven.

The comment about preservation is especially interesting in light of the fact that one of the Cambridge Seven images proposes to add shutters to the windows of the main block:

Detail of perspective view of Hanover Inn by Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.

Detail of perspective view of Inn by Cambridge Seven.

(Another view by the firm shows the Inn without shutters added.)

Big Green Alert: The Blog has a couple of construction photos.

—–
[Update 11.17.2012: Three broken links to C7A images removed, two replaced with generic links to firm page.]

The “North Block,” or one way to expand onto the golf course

Posted on 14.02.2012 by Regisseur

I. Background.

The hope is that if or when Dartmouth builds a new heat plant in Dewey Field, the prominent field north of the Life Sciences Center, it erects a building of high quality.

More important than the architecture, however, is the siting: the building should be located in such a way that it does not impede the construction of other buildings in the future. This is the second time this idea has been flogged here.

Dartmouth needs to decide upon the potential building sites for the whole area between the LSC and the 6th hole of the golf course. It should know ahead of time whether this will be a district of brown metal sheds, academic buildings, office spaces, or even general-market apartment buildings, and how these new buildings will be organized, even if the first one is not built until 2050.

Google Street Views of the overall parking lot (up from the bottom, down from the Medical School) show the tremendous amount of space available to future builders with incomplete ideas. The sort-of road that lines the western edge of the site will form a crucial axis, as is made apparent in the set of excellent views to the north from under the Kellogg bridge and to the south (uphill).

II. Proposal.

The idea of placing academic buildings or dormitories north of the LSC should be dismissed out of hand. This site is simply too far away from the center of campus. The fact that the LSC forms a great rampart walling off the outside world suggests that the college agrees: what lies beyond the pale is not a part of the campus.

But there will be buildings built here, and there are some functions that would be appropriate for the college to develop here.

Present zoning aside, this could be a great place for commercial rental buildings with integrated parking garages. The Development Office could be here. Look to Centerra; look to the space the college is renting in downtown Hanover at the moment. This site is no farther from the Green than is Ledyard Bridge, and walking distance is obviously of little importance to non-student functions. Retail and residential uses would be essential to add life to the district when it is finally built out, but they might be too much to hope for.

Sketch of possible “North Block” development on Dewey Field and golf course.

What about the golf course? Add a couple of holes to the north or east; build a new clubhouse at the north end of this commercial project, or in the Reservoir Road area as a companion to the Rugby Club.

[02.25.2012 update: first paragraph reworded slightly.]

The Hospital Bridge and the Hanover Bypass

Posted on 12.02.2012 by Regisseur

An extremely expensive new bridge and highway could clear a route through the woods from Lahaye Drive (the hospital’s southern access road) over Colburn Hill, around Boston Lot Lake, over Route 10, and over the Connecticut River to an intersection with Vermont Route 5 at the Bugbee Street exit off Interstate 91.

Mockup of potential bridge location and two bypass routes. Ledyard Bridge is at the top.

On the New Hampshire side, a bypass would affect Boston Lot Lake and the trails around it (map). The lake, which has a great name, might be artificial and appears to be owned by Dartmouth, as is the surrounding property.

On the Vermont side, the land between Bugbee Street and the bridge’s western abutment includes some undeveloped parcels; some commercial properties, including Blood’s Catering; a couple of house lots; and St. Anthony’s Cemetery (map).

This idea is sketched so roughly here that the elevations of the underlying north-south routes have not even been accounted for. Would the bridge go from hillside to hillside, flying over both Route 10 and Route 5? Or would it be more like the Hartford bridges, picking up local streets and crossing the river a few yards above the surface?

(At the very least, one wonders whether Lahaye Drive or Gould Road — of Sachem Village — should be pushed through to connect Routes 10 and 120 at the latitude of the hospital.)

———

[Update 06.11.2012: Page 14 of the 2002 Campus Master Plan (pdf) suggests that the general idea of a bypass has received some attention:

To reduce congestion, Hanover has explored alternatives to bypass the Inn corner. A Connector Highway linking Route 120, Route 10 and I-91 would be very desirable for both Hanover and the Medical Center, but Lebanon has not supported this proposal. The College should continue to study this and other by-pass proposals, making College properties available if necessary.

The map on page 15 of the plan appears to indicate that Dartmouth does not own the land around the lake, contrary to the presumption of this post.]

[Update 10.17.2012: Okay, the earlier idea posted here was too radical. The hospital folks don’t need a road that leads directly to Vermont: all they need is a route that is less slow than the Ledyard Bridge. Anyway, the Boston Lot Lake area is protected by a conservation easement. So why not extend Gould Road — it needs to be extended whether or not a bridge is built — and build a bridge somewhere to the south, wherever it could be done with the least cost? Then all Hanover would have to do is add enough traffic-calming devices to ensure that Wheelock Street never gets the reputation of being the faster of the two routes.]

Moving sculptures

Posted on 10.02.2012 by Regisseur

Mark di Suvero’s X-Delta has moved again, this time to a site in front of Berry Library. It will move back to its permanent site below the Hood after the Visual Arts Center is finished.

And Richard Nonas’s 1976 sculpture Telemark Shortline is back:

photo by Meacham of Telemark Shortline sculpture

View of Telemark Shortline in front of Richardson Hall, June 2011.

View of Wheeler Hall, June 2011.

MMXIX

Posted on 06.02.2012 by Regisseur

The website for the current strategic planning process uses the 2019 Quartomillenium as an endpoint, with its motto “Imagine the Next 250.”

The Bicentennial year of 1969-1970 gives an example of what the Quartomillenium could be. There were three big events according to Charles Widmeyer in John Sloan Dickey: A Chronicle of His Presidency of Dartmouth College (1991), 250, 271. Those events were:

The Bicentennial Commencement in the summer of 1969.
Dartmouth Day (i.e. Charter Day), December 13, 1969. This was the focal point of the year, and it involved a fireworks display, a parade around the Green, and a proclamation by the Governor in front of the Hop (the Bicentennial plaque is in the Zahm Garden).
The Third Century Convocation in the Fall of 1970.

The notable commemorative objects produced for the Bicentennial included:

A USPS stamp designed by John Scotford, technically in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Dartmouth College Case, since USPS does not recognize individual schools or their anniversaries.
A new college flag with its stylized pine symbol designed by Scotford.
A medal designed by Rudolph Ruzicka and struck by the U.S. Mint at Philadelphia, requiring an act of Congress:

The Quartomillenium could include these events:

A commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Dartmouth College Case.
A visit by the 10th Earl of Dartmouth.
The receipt from the College of Arms of letters patent granting to Dartmouth an honorary coat of arms along these lines:

Dartmo.

The Buildings of Dartmouth College

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