The Hanover Planning Board delayed an expected vote on the College's proposed design for a Visual Arts Center on Tuesday evening, after Board and community members raised concerns about the design's effect on the Hanover downtown area.
The Board's decision to postpone the vote comes just weeks after the College received a $50-million gift commitment, the largest in Dartmouth history, to enable the College to move forward with the project.
The Planning Board had been scheduled to vote on the Arts Center's final design at the meeting. The College had expected the board to vote in favor of their proposal, according to John Scherding, associate director for design in the Office of Planning, Design and Construction.
During the discussion, however, Planning Board Vice Chairman William Dietrich produced several e-mails submitted by town residents and other absent Planning Board members that expressed concerns that the proposal did not meet the town's long-term design goals for the downtown area, Sherding said.
The messages questioned whether the current plan makes the building adequately welcoming to the public. Many of the Hanover residents who expressed concerns at the meeting cited a planning document created in 2000, "Downtown Vision," which called on the town to develop street-level retail businesses, he said.
Planning Board members were primarily concerned with making the Visual Arts Center's visage more welcoming, and with ensuring that the building will fit in well with surrounding buildings, according to James Hornig, a member of the Planning Board.
He said that members are beginning to worry that the size of the building and its external design made the proposed structure "a little too imposing" for the downtown.
"In all fairness, it's too bad we didn't recognize that earlier," Hornig said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "But it wasn't until we began to walk around the site, picture the landscaping, [that we realized] what a big impact it would have on the area."
Scherding said he found the board members' complaints surprising, as the design includes an open entryway and public park space in response to the guidelines of the 2000 report.
"The planned structure is interesting and dynamic," Schernig said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "There's lot's of transparency, and it's not limited to College use, it's open to the street and the community and there're lots of places to sit for informal gathering. We've worked really hard on those issues,"
The Tuesday meeting was the first time that Planning Board members had been given a chance to discuss the design submitted by the College, Planning Board member Katherine Connolly said in an interview with The Dartmouth. The board's previous two meetings, at which the Arts Center was discussed, were devoted exclusively to the College's presentation of the design, she said.
"I'm not bothered by the fact that it's taking three or four hearings - it's a huge project, and it should," Connolly said, adding that she thought the project was progressing well.
Hornig said that, while it is possible the Planning Board could reject theCollege's proposal, he thought it was unlikely to do so when the issue comes to a vote.
Scherding agreed, saying that he and other College representatives would "listen and respond to the Board's concerns" at the next hearing, but that he felt confident in the plan.
The Planning Board is scheduled to meet again on July 21.
Planning Board Chair Judith Esmay and Vice Chair William Dietrich could not be reached for comment.
