Eight shortlisted architectural firms will present in May, planning committee with various campus constituents to convene this summer.
Saeed Husain
News Editor
As one crosses over Beall Ave. towards Lowry Center during the busy lunch hour in the next few years, a different kind of space will welcome them. The College is currently in the process of planning the renovation of Lowry Center, having solicited over 20 architects who have worked on similar projects, and then selecting eight finalists, who will be presenting their ideas for the student center, beginning early May.
Built in 1969, the building was originally constructed to fulfill the needs of a student body of around 1,200 students, whereas the current number of students stands at over 2,000. While the building has undergone renovations — with the most recent being the removal of Scot Lanes, a bowling alley, being replaced with meeting rooms and a large recreational space — there are other facets of the student center which need to be changed. This was elucidated to the Voice in an email from President Sarah Bolton.
“Lowry Center has undergone several interior renovations over the years; however, the building systems remain substantially unchanged since the building was originally constructed in 1969,” she said.
The main expected renovations, however, seem to belong to the dining hall, which Bolton says is “far too small and very difficult for our dining staff to work in.”
“The most obvious challenge is the dining hall,” Bolton said. “It is too small to serve our current student body, and the food preparation and storage spaces are very inadequate.”
This was echoed by the Director of Campus Dining and Conference Services Marjorie Shamp. “Lowry Dining Hall and Mom’s Truckstop were designed and constructed for a much smaller campus community, and for a much simpler menu. Campus Dining has inadequate seating, preparation, serving and storage space in Lowry Center,” she said.
Bolton also wrote that the size of the dining hall and the difficulty of working in it “limits what we can prepare and serve for students.”
In order to understand where the ideas for what is needed in Lowry Center came from, Bolton said that two years ago, a study was conducted consisting of students, faculty and staff about how Lowry is used. From the responses received, the administration learned “that more spaces for student activities, meetings and recreation were needed, and also that there were important opportunities to make the space much more welcoming and functional.”
A question which students and other members of the campus community might ask is how their day-to-day activities might be affected if Lowry is being renovated, to which Bolton said that the renovations will be phased to “maintain continuity for all of the critical functions of Lowry for our students, staff and faculty. Part of the work of the architects will be to plan that phasing.”
Some students have cited that the new Lowry Center must reflect a place where one can “relax and unwind.”
“I believe that for Lowry Center to be a success, it must be student-centered,” said Marco Roccato ’20. “The Alley was a step in the right direction, but our campus still needs better non-academic gathering spaces for students. As of right now, students don’t have many spaces in which they can just relax and unwind unless they’re in their residence halls, and the libraries aren’t exactly the best choice when I want to hang out with a group of friends.”
Bolton was of the same opinion, saying that the College wanted the renovated Lowry “to work well as a campus ‘living room’ where students, faculty and staff feel warmly welcomed, energized and inspired.”
However, other students said that renovations to Lowry Center should not be prioritized above staff-centered programs at the College.
“Honestly though, I’m tired of seeing the College prioritize projects aimed at improving student quality of life, when staff quality of life is so low because we won’t pay them enough to sustain themselves and their families on one job alone. I’m fine with settling for Lowry as it is right now if it means the staff can finally get the wages they deserve,” said Ben Bridgman ’20.
Bridgman was also of the opinion that The Alley — the last major renovation done in Lowry — was a “huge waste of money.”
“You can’t realistically use it as a study space and an arcade at the same time because of the noise pollution, and because no one wants to use it for either purpose for fear of being rude to the people who want to use it differently. As a result, it just sits there, dark and empty, 99 percent of the time. The only real way it’s used is to host large groups of outsiders like prospies and their parents or donors on the board, and we already have Kitt for that, especially since it closed. The College could have put that money toward paying their staff a living wage, but instead they blew it on an out-of-touch design from the top down so they could make themselves more ‘marketable’ or ‘attractive’ to the people who aren’t actually living and working here full time,” said Bridgman.
In developing a program and design for the student center, Bolton hinted that some services and operations of the College might move to Lowry Center in order to enhance and support student experience and success. This, however, will not come uninformed.
“The architectural firm partner will lead a process of significant input from the stakeholders of the new and renovated facility, the greater campus community and the City of Wooster,” she said. “The idea is to create a hub, like APEX, which brings together the things students most need in one place.”
Working as the Lead Tour Guide for the Office of Admissions, Roccato pointed out that taking a prospective student to lunch during the 12 p.m. lunch hour “is a complete mess.”
“If Kittredge must stay closed, I really do hope that the Lowry Dining Hall will undergo a significant expansion. As it is right now, every 12 p.m. lunch hour is a complete mess. Working for Admissions, it’s always a struggle to find a spot to have lunch with prospective students,” he said.
In regards to what she would like the dining hall and Mom’s to look like, Shamp wrote, “Additional seating capacity with interesting configurations and finishes, flexible serving areas for a diverse menu and expanded storage capacity.”
Bolton also wrote about the formation of a planning committee, which will convene this summer. This committee will include leadership from Student Activities, Dining Services, the bookstore, Facilities Management, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Advancement. “The committee will also include students and likely one or two other participants,” she said.
In terms of funding for the new space, particularly in light of the Living Wage Campaign — working towards getting hourly staff a living wage for Wooster — and other renovations needed for residential spaces, Bolton wrote that the final budget has not yet been determined.
“It will depend somewhat on the program and design of the space. We will need to raise the funds for this building largely from donations, and will be able to share those commitments publicly based on the donors’ wishes,” she said.
Roccato noted the importance of Lowry as a reflection of the College.
“At the end of the day, the student center has to reflect the campus. It’s the building anyone can go in, whether you’re a current student, a staff member, a prospective student visiting for the first time or an alum coming back after a long time away from campus. I won’t get to see the new Lowry until I am an alum myself, and I hope to come back to a beautiful, sun-lit, open space enjoyed by all parts of our Wooster community,” he said.