Back in the very beginning, Dartmouth Hall -- the imposing white edifice that faces the East side of the Green -- was the only building that the College could call its own.
In fact, until the late 1820s, students referred to the multipurpose Georgian-style building as "the College" since the library, museum, classrooms, offices, dining hall and dormitory space were all located there.
Needless to say, since these small beginnings, a significant number of buildings have been added to Dartmouth's stash, diversifying and developing the campus. Constantly updating and changing its building environment, Dartmouth is no different from most other colleges and universities.
Even as you read this article, Dartmouth is constructing the Berry project -- an addition to Baker Library. It is also renovating Ripley, Woodward and Smith residence halls this summer in a continuing effort to keep the dorms up to date.
Also in the works are plans to demolish the Kiewit Computing Center and Bradley Hall -- the blue and white tiled math building students fondly refer to as the "shower tower." And the College is in the process of building new graduate housing near the River cluster.
Construction just ended this past year on Moore Hall, the new psychology building, which faces the Medical School.
So, it appears you will not be escaping the noisy clangs and bangs of construction for a while -- especially in light of the recent Student Life Initiative decision, in which the Trustees of the College indicated that Dartmouth will be making vast renovations and additions to its physical plant all over the campus in the upcoming years.
Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckles told the Dartmouth that many of the Initiative-based changes will not go into effect for a few years, until they are actually planned.
"My interpretation of what the Trustees have said is still five years out," he said.
There are currently two committees formed by Dean of the College James Larimore to figure out how to put the Trustees' decisions into action. One is working to improve social and dining facilities, and the other is focusing on athletic and recreational facilities.
Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson, who is chairing the committee on athletic and recreational facilities, said he and the other members of the committee -- including two representatives chosen from the student body -- are meeting throughout the summer.
"We're still in our deliberation and discussion phases," he said. In this phase, the committee is currently studying proposals made by the Centerbrook Architects and Planners, which drafted proposals in response to the Trustee's initial decree during the winter of 1999.
This newest phase of decision making is only an addition to a long line of ideas and procedures that led to major changes at Dartmouth.
In 1956, the newest residences were the Choates cluster followed in 1962 by the River cluster. When those two -- now particularly unpopular -- clusters were constructed, it was assumed that colleges should integrate modern style buildings into their campuses.
"In that era ... the idea of progressive architectural Modernism was pretty well established on all campuses in America," Art History Professor Robert McGrath said.
And as The Dartmouth reported in February of 1956: "The new Modernistic structures will be the first to appear at Dartmouth, currently the only major college campus with no Modern architecture."
The East Wheelock Cluster, characterized by large suites and Brace Commons -- a big meeting place -- opened its doors in 1987. For the past year, many on campus have been wondering whether all clusters would start to resemble East Wheelock once the Initiative-based changes go into effect.
The majority of residence halls were conceived and designed by two main architects in the first half of this century. This is why many buildings resemble each other in their appearance.
Charles Rich designed campus buildings constructed at the beginning of the century, such as Robinson, McNutt, Parkhurst, Webster and College Hall, now the Collis Center.
Rich's first residence hall, Richardson, was completed in 1897 at a cost of $49,013. Rich's design for the cluster's second building, Wheeler, was not constructed until 1905, and its cost was much higher -- $83,135. These figures contrast sharply with the approximately $9.5 million spent on the College's most recently-built cluster, East Wheelock.
Architect Jens Larson replaced Rich after his time at the College had ended, and he shaped the campus with buildings like Baker Library, Carpenter Hall, Sanborn House and the Davis Field House. Larson is also responsible for Butterfield, Cutter-Shabazz Hall, the Gold Coast residence halls, the Ripley-Woodward-Smith cluster and Topliff.
Not only has the College constructed new structures, it has also changed the purpose of buildings over the years.
The most famous case of this is that of Webster Hall, which since last year has housed Rauner special collections library.
A January 1995 story in The Dartmouth reported, "the College has searched time and time again for new ways to use the centrally-located, architecturally-imposing Webster Hall."
In the early 1960s, the College considered turning the building into a center for social sciences. In 1977, students lobbied for the hall to become a new student center, but the plan was abandoned in favor of Collis Center -- which used to be referred to as College Hall.
In 1978, Webster was brought up in a campus-wide search for more classroom space.
According to Director of Facilities Planning Gordan DeWitt, the Hall was also considered for a new art gallery and a site for a new recreational swimming pool in the 1960s.
"When the Hopkins Center opened, the usefulness of Webster Hall as a performance space really disappeared," DeWitt said. "From that point on it's really been kind of an orphan. It's had no real purpose from day to day," he added.
This was a unfortunate fate for the building, which for the first half of the century had housed the largest auditorium in the twon of Hanover.
No doubt, Dartmouth will continue this cycle of expansion and change for the upcoming four years -- bring your hard hat, or at least your ear plugs.
