Thirty years older than Baker Library, 75 years older than the Dartmouth Plan and 90 years older than BlitzMail -- Richardson is celebrating its 100th anniversary today and some of its residents are throwing it a party complete with cake and singing.
The party will take place on the lawn between Rollins Chapel and Wheeler residence hall at 5:00 p.m. today.
Brandi Kenner '98, Area Coordinator for the Wheeler-Richardson Cluster, said the event will include a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream cart, a water balloon toss and a large inflatable jumping room. "We're regressing. Everything is going to seem very young," she said.
Kenner said the Undergraduate Advisors came up with the party ideas.
She estimated the cost of the anniversary celebration to be $1,400, with sponsorship from the Office of Residential Life and other clusters on campus.
"A lot of people I've told about the party said 'Oh I lived there freshman year and loved it,'" Kenner said.
Many Richardson residents said they are happy to live in the oldest residence hall on campus.
"Its kind of nice to be in a dorm that's been around 100 years," resident Shaun Gee '00 said.
"Its the oldest dorm, and I'm proud of that fact," So-Jin Lee '01 said.
But other residents were not as affected by the birthday.
"It doesn't really have all that much significance in my life," Karyn Brudnicki '01 said.
Regardless of the historical attachment, this is the last term Richardson will look the way it does now. Major renovations will reshape the building this summer, according to Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels.
Eckels said all the hallways and rooms will be carpeted, and an additional means of egress will be added on the north side of the building.
"We're adding a new internal staircase on the Wilder side of the building," Eckels said. "Rooms 103, 203 and 303 are all being removed to make room."
Eckels said the stairwell foyer will lead from the first floor of the residence hall to a ramp outside.
Eckels also said the existing staircase will be enclosed with fireproof glass to bring the stairwell up to current building codes.
He said the enclosure would normally be done with plaster or some other solid material.
"We don't want to lose the openness of the stairwell ... so we're going the extra mile and doing it with glass," Eckels said.
Eckels said these renovations, along with ventilation and heating improvements and the addition of a handicapped-accessible bathroom, will cost approximately $750,000.
Richardson, built in 1898, is the oldest residence hall still in existence at the College. At the time it was built, students still lit their rooms with kerosene lamps and candles and obtained water from a wooden well.
Richardson's long history is a colorful one. The building was one of the last all male dormitories when the College decided to eliminate single-sex dorms in 1987.
This decision was followed by protests from Richardson's residents, who referred to themselves as the "GDIs" -- or "The God Damn Independents."
"They didn't need fraternities," former Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco told The Dartmouth in March. "They had Richardson."
