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February 15, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann Shanahan, ashanaha@smith.edu
Smith College Will Officially
Break Ground
on New Campus Center Feb. 23
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Smith College will
hold an official ground breaking for its campus center at 11:15
a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23.
Trustees and college officials will wear hard hats and wield
gold-handled shovels at the event, which will take place at the
construction site on Chapin Drive near the rear of John M. Greene
Hall. The ground breaking event is open to the public.
The 55,000 square-foot building will provide a social center
for the Smith community and a gateway to the campus. Around a
long, curved, skylighted gallery that forms its core, there will
be exhibition, lounge, meeting and multi-purpose space as well
as a café, mailroom and bookstore and areas for student
organizations.
A series of outdoor terraces will connect the dining and lounge
spaces into the surrounding landscape. The building structure
will have a concrete foundation, a steel frame and concrete decks.
The exterior skin will be lightweight steel framing, vertical
wood siding and glass.
Although the official ground breaking will take place on Feb.
23, the construction fence has already been installed and excavation
began on Feb. 11. The building will open in early September
2003. It was designed by the New York firm of Weiss/Manfredi
Architects.
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