We could not agree more with Leeann Sausser’s call for the importance of green space on a campus like DePauw’s. She is absolutely right that the nation’s best campuses are strong because of the interplay between their buildings, their grounds and their people.
We thought we’d share a few things about Hoover Hall and plans for the campus core that might be of interest. They might even be reassuring.
First, Hoover Hall will extend only as far north as the current Union Building. This is to say that once complete, we will (thankfully) regain much of the area currently enclosed by the construction fence. Although we need the full construction area to ensure the safe construction of Hoover Hall, the building’s footprint will be much smaller than the fenced-in area.
Second, and this is particularly exciting to us, once Hoover Hall is complete, we will actually be removing a portion of the Union Building (what is now the kitchen, servery and loading dock) to create a new area of green space between Hoover Hall and the Union Building. When finished, it will be approximately the same size as Ubben Quad. We like to think of this space as an opportunity to truly connect Bowman Park (where construction will end this week) with East College.
In short, this is all part of a multi-year effort to methodically restore the basic core of the campus grounds. We started with Anderson Street (where we removed 60 parking spaces) and moved to Ubben Quad. The plan is to have beautiful, open spaces with maintained lawns and large trees.
Here’s our promise: When it’s all done, we’ll bring the Frisbees.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Coffin ‘06, Associate Vice President for Communications
Dick Vance, Associate Vice President for Facilities
