Chandler House is also on the college's chopping block. The Historical Commission will hear on Monday the college's proposal to raze Chandler and Hardy.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College Monday will ask the town's Historical Commission to sign off on the demolition of buildings built in 1914 and 1854.
The buildings are slated for removal to support the programming of the Davis Center, which already utilizes one of the two structures in question.
The Davis Center, named for noted Black Williams alumni W. Allison Davis and John A. Davis, began as the college's Multicultural Center in 1989 and supports students from historically disenfranchised groups as well as international students.
The center's main offices are in Jenness House on Morley Drive, which is flanked by the 107-year-old Chandler House, which fronts on Walden Street, and 167-year-old Hardy House.
The former has served primarily as a construction trailer for the college's nearby science center project, according to Scott Henderson, the project manager on the Davis Center project. The latter, Hardy House, is home to the college's Gender and Sexuality Resource Center and Office of Special Academic Programs.
The decision to remove Chandler House and Hardy House comes at the end of a two-year study process and a 23-person committee, Henderson said.
"What we do when there are existing buildings in play and we're reviewing them for reuse is we take a lengthy pre-design process, in this case 12 months, using Conditions of Success, a scorecard that lists the goals of the project," Henderson said. "In this case, there were 20 project goals."
The committee assessed all three of the current buildings used by the Davis Center — Jenness, Hardy and Rice House, located to the north of Hardy — plus Chandler, which is nearing the end of its use as construction office space for a science center project that is nearing completion.
The plan that emerged involves putting an addition on Rice House, extending it into the current footprint of Hardy House, and creating space for outdoor programming by the Davis Center and a new accessible entry from Walden Street.
"We can take Hardy House, which has important programming, and make it improved space in a new building," Henderson said. "Rice House has historical value and scored differently and higher [in the Conditions of Success process]. Jeness also has a social history as the initial Multicultural Center.
"Part of the Davis Center's need is good outdoor space for events, and [Chandler House's location] was a prime spot for that."
Besides the addition to Rice House, the project includes renovations for Jeness and Rice.
"They're beautiful old houses, but you get inside and you realize that if anyone has mobility issues, they're limited to one floor," Henderson said.
There will be enough construction work and demolition happening in the "neighborhood" that it makes sense to relocate the Davis Center during a construction period slated for spring semester 2022 through July 2023.
"The timing worked out pretty well with the science building wrapping up," Henderson said. "They're vacating swing space on Stetson at the end of this current semester. … That will give us the opportunity to move the Davis Center in January next year and use it throughout the whole construction period."
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Williamstown ZBA Passes Art Museum Project
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
A historical marker commemorates a French and Indian War fort on the site where Williams College plans its new art museum. The college has plans to update the marker, similar to the new marker explaining the Haystack Monument installed last year on campus.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday approved plans for a new Williams College Art Museum on the former site of the Williams Inn.
On a vote of 5-0, the board granted the college the two special permits it needed and finalized the body's development plan review, wrapping up a hearing that began in July.
The decision cleared the way for the college to break ground on the project in September with a planned opening in 2027.
First, the college's development team addressed some questions raised by the board during the opening of the hearing and responded to concerns raised by abutters in the Main Street and Fort Hoosac Place neighborhood to the west of the museum site.
As it did in July, the ZBA pressed college representatives for details on how pedestrian safety would be maintained in what amounts to an extension of the campus across the junction of Routes 2 and 7 (Main Street and North Street) at the Field Park rotary.
"Our anticipation is the current crosswalk at the intersection of 2 and 7 will be the primary crosswalk, and there will be improvements to make that more robust," architect Jonathan Molloy of the New York firm SO-IL told the board.
"This includes some of the classic features of a blinking light with buttons. … Ultimately, we might decide to do something different and more effective."
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Williams College will be back before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday for a development plan review for the school's planned art museum at the Field Park rotary.
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The Milne Library's Building and Grounds Committee on Thursday recommended that the director move ahead with several repairs to the building. click for more