Summer Brings PEA Renovations
Elm Street Dining Hall, Love Gym and Webster Hall will undergo renovations this summer. Additionally, fundraising support for an addition to the current music building has progressed to 80 percent of the total funds needed. The Court Street site on top of the tennis courts has been identified as the most likely site for a new performing arts center.
Elm Street Dining Hall will undergo a major renovation this summer, the first of its scale in over 40 years. Facilities Management will focus renovations on the student area of the dining hall. Instead of only two hot food lines, this area will be split into multiple serving stations. This will spread out the long lines and reduce waiting time for meals.
New lighting for serving areas and entrees will be installed, along with a new book bag storage unit system and new flooring. Additional equipment such as a hearth oven is currently being planned in order to allow for the implementation of new menu concepts. New refrigeration and hot-holding equipment will also be installed to help with efficiency.
Dan Ferland, the Dining Services manager, has high expectations for the new renovations. “Elm St. Dining Hall is probably one of the most high-traffic areas on campus, so we hope these upgrades will offer an exciting new atmosphere for those who spend much of their time in the dining hall,” he said.
A new weight room/fitness center in the Thompson Gym will be constructed on the ground floor. Although the weight room is currently in good condition, some students and faculty cited lack of space as a disadvantage.
The new weight room will be 9,000 square feet, as opposed to the current 3,200 square feet, according to Director of Athletics Robert Morris.
The renovation will begin during the late summer, and is expected to be completed around March or April of 2015. Additionally, a lead gift for a second synthetic turf field, to be located behind Phelps Stadium, has been secured. The Academy is also looking to deal with the aging Cage, which has been unusable for track and field programs during the past year due to safety concerns. Currently, a committee is charged with studying the programmatic needs and possible solutions related to the Cage, and its recommendations will be considered next fall.
Morris said that the renovations would benefit many. “We believe it will impact this community in a major positive way, as the fitness center really is a major crossroads of the campus, a place where all students, faculty and staff come together,” he said.
Webster Hall will also undergo renovations over the summer. The building is currently split into two sections, Webster North and Webster South, which operate as two different dorms. These two sections will be combined into one large dorm next year that will hold about 50 boys.
Many students and faculty were excited about the uniting of Webster North and South. History instructor and Webster dorm faculty Giorgio Secondi, who will become the head of the new, united dorm, commented on this aspect of the renovation. “There’s already a lot of interaction between the two sides of the dorm, and removing that distinction will simplify a few things and bring faculty and students closer together,” Secondi said.
Upper Mariano Montori also expressed curiosity as to how the combination of the two sections will play out next year. “As an upper it feels a little bit weird that the dorm is going to be one dorm, not separated into North and South,” Montori said. “But it doesn’t feel weird in a bad sense, and I am interested to see how it’s going to be like next year.”
While the unison of Webster may provide some exciting new experiences, it may also take away from the special dorm community faculty member Townley Chisholm believes exists within the smaller, separated dorms.
“I am sorry to see the increase in the size of the dorm because Mr. Secondi has created a genuinely wonderful dorm atmosphere in Webster North, and I fear that special dorm community will not work as well in a much bigger dorm,” Chisholm said. Chisholm was disappointed in the fact that the Webster dorm faculty did not have more of a say regarding the combining of the dorms.
This renovation is also necessary response to poor conditions in the building, according to lower Tony Zhu. “I currently have several holes in the ceiling that used to leak, and some areas of the dorm are currently just not under very good condition,” Zhu said.
The performing arts campaign is moving forward as two separate projects. An addition to our current music building is currently being designed, and support has advanced to nearly 80 percent of the total funds needed.
The Court Street site, on top of the current tennis courts, has been identified as the likely location for the new facility.
The renovation of the entire area south of Court Street will be planned as a whole, as tennis courts will need to be relocated, and as the renovation or replacement of Thompson Cage is considered. Significant fundraising requirements still remain for the theater and dance facility.
With a theater as old as Fisher, there are multiple areas in need of renovation. One disadvantage to the current theater is its inadequate size for audiences. “In the past two-and-a-half years, we have sold out 19 of 21 dramatic productions, including musicals and 14 of 18 dance concerts,” Technical Director Cary Wendell said.