As soon as May 2014, the college plans to begin its next major construction project. The renovation and expansion of Curtis Dining Hall will be the first of a series of modifications made to the central block of campus.
“Right now you can only seat about 300 in [Curtis],” Rich Péwé, chief administrative officer, said. “It is a terrible place to have a dinner, but we have to use it quite a bit. The ceilings are low. You can’t hear anybody talking. The light is minimal. We need it for big dinners – parents weekend, and if we start inviting more people to campus for lecture series, we would need a nice place to feed them.”
The renovation of Curtis Dining Hall along with plans to expand Phillips Auditorium are part of a plan to renovate current facilities.
“It would architecturally improve West Street a good deal,” Péwé said. “It is the center of everything so to build something away from there doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Plans include higher ceilings, skylights, a new kitchen, and a drop off area covered by a canopy roof. The building will extend to West Street and the exterior will be remodeled. The budget is $7.7 million, Péwé said.
Kevin Kirwan, director of SAGA Food Services, said the renovation plans have undergone significant tweaks throughout the design process and may continue to change. He said that plans may even include escalators down to Phillips Auditorium.
“[The renovation] will be a nice addition to the college,” Kirwan said. “Curtis was never designed to accommodate the numbers of people that we now serve. For the kinds of events that the college hosts it will allow them to invite more outside guests and they won’t be hindered by the current size of the facility.”
Curtis would be able to accommodate approximately 900 people after the renovation, which would accommodate for large banquet events such as Parent’s Weekend, CCA dinners, invited speakers, and commencement brunch.
“We have been using Dow A, B, C which is kind of like shoe-horning people,” Marisa Behnke, senior and external affairs student supervisor, said. “It can get tricky when we have a lot of guests and when people are hungry. I think it will be a good use of space.”
Curtis would also be used for student events.
“Just like everything else, we kind of use every space however we can. We are good at using things as much as they can be used,” Péwé said. “Right now we can’t have a nice dinner for a large number of people. We are very careful since building the Grewcock Student Union not to displace students. We try not to do that. This would give us a nice place so we would not have to do that.”
The college hopes to renovate Phillips Auditorium soon after the Curtis renovation if funding for the $3.5 million expansion allows.
“Donors have a lot to do with it,” Péwé said. “You might put it on your plans and say this would be nice for us to have and at some point a donor might respond to that and express interest and then pursue that and it turn out they can help you so that.”
