Plans for a new Jewish student center have been temporarily stalled because the architectural proposals exceed the cost and size specifications requested by the College and Hillel, the Jewish students' organization.
"The plans are simply too large and over budget," said George Hathorn, associate director of facilities planning and the College's resident architect.
The Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth, which will be located north of Delta Delta Delta sorority house, will provide Hillel more room than its current location on Summer Street.
Plans for the new center include a worship and dining area for 200 people. Currently, Hillel House can only accommodate 35 for dinner. The new facility will also have a kitchen, classrooms, a game room and a library.
The architecture firm Kliment and Halsband of New York submitted plans for the center that were 2,500 square feet over the original desired building size of 10,500 square feet and an undisclosed amount above the $2.2 million budget.
The narrow shape of the lot was partly responsible for the oversized plans. "A long, narrow building requires more gross square footage for the same facilities than a smaller square building can contain," Hathorn said.
Wider corridors and larger handicap restrooms, which are required by federal legislation, increased the projected square footage, Hathorn said. New plans should be complete in two weeks.
