TO: John McCardell
DATE: March 9, 1995
COPY: Natural Sciences Planning Committee
FROM: Frank Winkler, Glenn Andres
SUBJECT: Need for Campus-Wide Analysis
According to the tentative schedule that has recently been announced, Middlebury stands on the threshold of what could be the most prolific decade for building in the College's history. Within the next year alone, we may be siting and breaking ground for a new Swimming Pool, Hockey Rink, and Social Houses, along with renovations of Old Chapel, the Johnson Art Studios, and Adirondack House. Numerous additional projects, including the long-awaited addition to the Science Center, are scheduled to begin not long afterward. And, should we decide to enlarge the student body significantly, even more extensive projects will occur within the coming decade. At the end of it, the Middlebury campus will be profoundly changed.
As we discussed with you Tuesday, we urge that before the College begins these major projects that we assess carefully the present state of the campus, and plan additions which will enhance it, rather than detract from it. Middlebury's campus is arguably its greatest long-term asset. In many areas we may have some distance to go to become the "College of Choice," but in the beauty of the campus, there are very, very few institutions that can compete with Middlebury. In our drive to pull ourselves upward in other areas, it's imperative that we not take excellence we already have too much for granted, lest we lose it.
We urge you to engage the services of a firm or individual who can help us understand what we now have, and articulate principles to follow as we plan for future growth. What are vistas that should be preserved? How do buildings relate to one another and to the campus as a whole? What are pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns now, and how might changes affect them? What are architectural themes that can be repeated? What we need is an analysis, not a "grand design" or "master plan." An analysis will serve as a guide for any future development. It is perhaps best carried out by a firm or individual who is not designing any buildings now being planned, because they will be less likely to slant the analysis to justify any one particular concept for growth.
Middlebury is fortunate to have great faculty expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and state-of-the-art equipment for geographic analyses and can easily add Computer Assisted Design capability. It is reasonable that our faculty and students could play a role in gathering and entering data that could become a part of the analysis, and the resulting product could include maps and data on our own computers which could be used to aid in testing the impact of possible changes or additions to the campus, and for visualizing how they might look from any vantage point.
There are several firms with which we already have some connection who could work with us on a campus analysis:
March 22, 1995
TO: John McCardell
cc: David Ginevan
Frank Winkler
Glenn Andres
FROM: Steven C. Rockefeller
SUBJECT: Winkler/Andres memo on "Need for Campus Wide Analysis"
At its most recent meeting the Environmental Council discussed the proposal made to you by Professors Winkler and Andres recommending that the College engage the professional services of a firm that is able to do a careful analysis of the unique values of the Middlebury College campus before the College embarks on any of the major new building projects which are under consideration. The Council members present unanimously voted to endorse this recommendation, and I am writing to communicate our strong support for what Professors Winkler and Andres have proposed.
In addition to the architecture, landscape design and pedestrian/traffic patterns about which Winkler and Andres have expressed concern, the Environmental Council recommends that the proposed campus-wide analysis also take into consideration important environmental concerns such preservation of the diversity of native species and protection of wooded and other wild areas, including wetlands, that adjoin the campus and that may include critical wildlife habitat or otherwise contribute in significant ways to the health of local ecosystems.
Regarding a specific issue, there is concern among a number of students and faculty about the plan to locate four social houses in the wooded area west of the cemetery for various environmental, aesthetic, and recreational reasons. The Environmental Council recommends that this plan be reviewed in the light of a careful analysis of the woods and agricultural field that would be affected, that that this study include consideration of the current and potential use and enjoyment of this area by students, faculty, and staff.
If I or the Council can be of any assistance to the College in connection with the proposed campus study, please let me know.
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