MCLA Addition Offers Place for Students to Build Community
 Special scissors await the cutting of the ribbon to the new MCLA addition to the Berkshire Towers. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts opened its new $3.2 million lobby and entrance to the Berkshire Towers on Thursday afternoon.
The ribbon-cutting was attended by Edward Adelman, executive director of the Massachusetts State College Building Authority, representatives from the design and contracting companies, alumni, faculty, students and local officials.
(For pictures, click here.)
"The Berkshire Towers didn't provide any opportunities to socialize," said Diane Manning, director of residential programs and services. There were no common areas for students to meet or host events, or engage in community-building activities, she said. "Now, we have a lot of students space and lots of opportunities."
College President Mary K. Grant noted that it was the first significant residence project that the college had embarked on since the Townhouse dormitories were built in 1978.
"Our mission at MCLA is to really have a living/learning community and what goes on in the residence halls supports that ... having a place for students to have a community and to gather and have their own place, just to do the things they want to be doing, is so important," she said.
The 3,000 square-foot addition replaces the maze of ramps and stairways that led into the hillside entrance of the twin towers. The exterior of the hallway that students entered to access the elevators is now the interior wall of the new two-story space.
It includes a corner conference room, main lobby area and utility room that can be closed off with pocket doors for privacy. There is also a full kitchen, comfortable chairs on casters, including some with movable tables for laptops or writing, coffee tables and a long banquet under the many windows with a view of the campus.
 Edward Adelman of the State College Building Authority, President Mary K. Grant and sophomore Katy Collins prepare to the cut the ribbon. |
The street-level doorway is opposite the old Murdock Hall gates that were installed to provide a formal entrance to the main campus. Designer Anita Licis-Ribak said the positioning of the new doorway was important as a transitioning point to the campus.
Integrating the new space with the old was a complex project, first envisioned as a three-story space, but "the two-story worked much better," she said. The colors are modern greens and purples that help to blend into the exposed brick interior wall.
The building is more accessible, with an elevator from the street entrance to the new lobby area; from there, students can take the appropriate elevator their tower rooms. It also includes new electronic systems, including computer alerts telling students when they're washing is done, and new, safer loading dock access for moving days.
Adelman said the addition brought together disparate parts "that were kind of devoid of each other."
"This is not just functionally accessible if somebody has mobility issues but in the true sense of the word — students live here and this is a space for them."
Kuhn Riddle Architects Inc. of Amherst and Aquadro Cerruti Inc. of Northampton were the design and build team for the project, which also included renovations to 5,000 more square feet of existing space.
Tags: building project, capital projects, dormitory, MCLA,
