This article features a new academic building at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Finger Lakes Times
By KEVIN DeVALK
GENEVA - Even though the building is finished, the offices are occupied, and much of the furniture has arrived, Hobart and William Smith Colleges' new Stern Hall does not have the "lived in" feel just yet.
As Chris Button envisions it, chairs to relax in between classes will surround the fireplace in the front lobby, which currently has no furniture. Above the fireplace will be a picture of the man for whom the building was named.
Stern Hall, named after former federal court judge Herbert Stern, houses classrooms and offices. The $6.5 million building includes lounges, wooden exterior doors, research labs, and Ethernet computer hook-ups in virtually every room and outdoors.
The three-story brick building with cast stone exterior trim and slate roofs was designed to blend in with neighbors Smith Hall and Warren Hunting Smith Library, said Button, the Colleges buildings and grounds project manager.
Shrubs, flowers, and trees will be planted on the lawn outside, and, looking at a muddy patch of freshly-planted grass from a third-floor rear window, Button said, "The area down below will be a garden or a reflecting space. Maybe it'll be a Chinese garden or a Japanese garden. That hasn't been decided yet."
Stern, which was completed in mid-May, is home to five departments in the humanities. Professors moved in a few days after graduation. A dedication ceremony will be held in the fall after students return.
The general contractor was the Heuber Brewer Construction Co. of Syracuse.
Construction began last summer. Since then, the Colleges have added some other building projects to their plate, among them some new student housing along Routes 5&20.
Most of Stern Hall's professors moved from Trinity Hall, which is undergoing major interior renovation. While some of Trinity's inside walls will remain up, the floors and much of the rest of the interior are being gutted in a project that also involves installing an elevator and building an addition for a new staircase tower, Button said. The renovation will bring the 19th century building up to code, Button said.
"They kicked us out of Trinity real fast," joked political science professor Iva Deutchman, who, in her new first-floor corner office in Stern, called the new building "awesome."
Assistant anthropology professor Renee Monson, whose department also relocated from Trinity, said she is impressed with the new building.
Two staircases and an elevator connect the floors. Each floor contains about a dozen offices and a handful of classrooms and other related facilities, along hallways with white and beige walls that have little decoration at this point.
Button said he expects the departments in Stern Hall will "take some ownership" by decorating the classrooms and other spaces, even though the classrooms won't necessarily be restricted to the departments in the building.
Decisions on what classes will be taught in Stern will be made by the registrar. Monson said she's hoping that hers will be among them.
"The plan, as they promised, is that we have first dibs on the (classroom) spaces here," Deutchman said.
In the third-floor Asian languages department, computers in a lab will run on Microsoft Windows in Chinese - a version the Colleges don't have currently.
Recycling bins in the front foyer and the Colleges' decision to invest in wind power for the building are evidence of a commitment to the environment in planning Stern Hall, Button said.
Monson said Stern Hall hasn't seen much bustle since the professors settled in. The students are on summer break, and many of the professors are out doing research.
Deutchman said she'll be in her office, preparing a curriculum for a course she's introducing this fall that will take a critical look at television reality shows.
While she works, more furniture will arrive in the building. More desks and tables will be set up, and more computer stations will be installed.
"I'm sure these classrooms will be in high demand," Monson said. "The professors will want them. They're one of the best parts of the building."