At 93 years old, Hitchcock residence hall is undergoing an $11.9 million facelift, part of a $95 million renovation project that also includes landmark residence halls such as New Hampshire, Wheeler, the Fayerweathers and Massachusetts Row.
The buildings, which will close for one year during renovations, were all constructed around the early 1920s, and complete renovations were made possible due to the additional beds provided by the recently built McLaughlin, Fahey and McLane residence halls. After Hitchcock reopens in the winter of 2008, New Hampshire will be the next to close. Students living there in the fall of 2008 will get first priority for Hitchcock, according to Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman.
In the name of comfort and spaciousness, Hitchcock, which currently has 118 beds, will reopen with just 85 as doubles become singles and triples become doubles. (Originally, 86 students slept in it, but it gradually swelled and by 1999, held 118 students.)
"It's been that way for so long that people don't know the triples are supposed to be doubles," Redman said.
After renovations, 70 percent of Hitchcock rooms will be singles and the remaining rooms doubles. Workers will overhaul the building's heating, plumbing and electricity; individual thermostats will be installed in every room; bathrooms will be made single-use and lighting will be wall-mounted and incandescent rather than fluorescent and on the ceiling. The new upgrades are designed with energy efficiency and cost-saving in mind. The project, however, won't move lounge spaces or the kitchen.
One main reason for keeping the basic structure of Hitchcock, Redman said, is to preserve its history. The only change to the building's footprint is the addition of an enclosed stairwell.
Even the original fireplaces won't be removed, although they still will not be functional. And, Redman said, the new Hitchcock should prove to be more aesthetically pleasing.
"I'm planning on having the lounge painted a light shade of green."
One priority of the renovations concerns making the buildings modifiable. This is the only way the buildings can last another 100 years without undergoing major changes, "because what students want 50 years from now will be different from what we can provide them with today," Redman explained.
The overall project's completion is slated -- ideally -- for 2014, with the hope that the buildings will last another 100 years.
"The only issue that would slow us up is funding and budget needs with the resources available," he said.
After New Hampshire hall, Wheeler or Wilder will be renovated next. The largest building to be shut down for an extensive time will be the halls of Massachusetts Row.
