Last weekend, the Board of Trustees authorized the construction of a $19 million psychology building that will reunite the department after 19 years of separation.
The new building, to be constructed on Maynard Street, is an essential component to the College's northward expansion plans. Together with a proposed mathematics building, the psychology building will anchor a landscaped open space as wide as Massachusetts Row that will extend from the rear of an expanded Baker Library to Maynard Street.
Although the facility's name is still undecided, the building may be named after an historical Dartmouth figure or a financial contributor to the project, Gordon DeWitt, director of facilities planning, said.
Robert Kleck, psychology department chair, called the development "marvelous" and said it was the culmination of years of attempts to reunite the department, which is currently housed in both Gerry and Silsby Halls.
"We participated fully with the architect that was hired to do the preliminary drawings," Kleck stated, noting that professors were consulted about the design of laboratories, offices and classrooms in the new building.
Kleck also called the department's current dual location "a primary problem for the last 19 years" and said he expects that the new building will foster better interaction between the different divisions of the department and make professors more easily accessible to students.
The building's facilities will include state of the art laboratories that Kleck said should help to attract potential faculty members as well as benefit current students. It will also allow the expansion of the department's graduate program.
Although the project has been in the planning stages for several years, the Trustees' vote authorizes the building's final design and construction, a press release from the College News Service stated.
"We've already started the wheels in motion," DeWitt said, adding that construction could begin as early as next Fall term if there are no delays in the planning process.
The building will take approximately 18 months to complete and the construction company will be selected by a competitive bidding process, DeWitt said.
The Robert A.M. Stern architectural firm of New York, which has been involved with the project since 1992, will design the new structure, DeWitt said.
The press release stated that securing funding for the building is "among the highest priorities" in Dartmouth's $500 million capital campaign, but until such funds are obtained, the College will borrow the necessary money.
The project is part of a larger $23 million package of renovations for the arts and sciences facilities that the Trustees approved during last weekend's meeting.
The psychology department's current space in Silsby Hall will eventually be converted for other uses such as offices or classrooms.
The department's other location, Gerry Hall, will be demolished along with its "shower tower" partner Bradley Hall as part of the northward expansion plans.
