Interesting article on the new Library Shelving Facility.

Before Williams College opens its new library, it will open an off-campus, high-security, high-density, solar-powered, heavily computerized library storage facility on Simonds Road.

This building, which is essentially a concrete box, will eventually store about 900,000 volumes in 10,000 square feet of environmentally controlled space, on shelving 30-feet high. The materials will be stored on trays, and stacked according to size, not subject, to allow for the most efficient packing possible. It will be accessed via fork lifts.

During the construction of the new library on campus, some materials will be temporarily housed at the off-campus Library Shelving Facility, which is how college officials refer to it. But once the new library is finished, the off-site building will hold some of the less heavily used volumes and journals on a more permanent basis.

“When we were planning the new library, we realized that there was only going to be so much space we could afford both financially and in acreage because we’re located in the center of campus,” said Sylvia Brown, Williams College archivist. “So we had to think about what do we want to have most in the center of campus and how are people going to be using the library.”

Good stuff. It does not take a futurist to see that, for students in the near future, if something isn’t on-line, it doesn’t exist. The College could cut the amount of space on campus for books and journals by 90% and still be fine. Indeed, I suspect that, in 10 years, this facility will seem like a ridiculous white elephant. Won’t 98% of the material it contains be available on the web for free?

On the roof will be 96 photovoltaic panels, which will generate roughly 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

According to Stephanie Boyd, director of the Williams College Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, “This building has a nice, big, flat roof, so there was lots of room to put solar panels up. And it’s easier to do while you’re constructing a new building. So it just seemed like a great application.”

The cost of the solar panel project was partially funded by a rebate award from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative through the Commonwealth Solar program to the tune of $92,670. The remainder, about $170,000, was funded by the college’s capital improvement budget, Boyd said.

She added that this is the first significant photovoltaic installation at Williams College and will help the college achieve its greenhouse gas reduction target of 10 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2020.

Hmmmm. Color me skeptical but willing to be educated. Is one quarter of a million dollars a wise investment, either by the College or the taxpayers of Massachusetts? I think that a kilowatt hour in Massachusetts is worth around 10 cents. So, these panels will, at best, save the College $3,000 per year. Am I doing this math correctly? Isn’t it silly to spend $170,000 to save $3,000 per year? And note that this calculation ignores the cost of (annual) maintenance and replacement cells. But what could possibly damage solar panels on a flat roof during a Williamstown winter?

There is a great senior thesis to be written about the actual economics of the College’s attempts to cut carbon emissions — all the messy details of dollars and kilowatts. My suspicion is that the College is wasting money on expensive hair shirts.

In my regular truckload of political news yesterday and today, I noticed a little gem about Williams’ regular contributor and building namesake Edgar Bronfman, Sr. (of Seagram’s fame).  Well, technically I think the building is named after the whole Bronfman family, many of whom contributed to the building, but still…Edgar was the initial Williams connection so far as I know.

Former World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman headlines a group of prominent Jewish leaders from New York who are signing on to support the Barack Obama campaign.

The Obama Jewish Leadership Council of Metro New York plans to meet next Tuesday. Other participants include Merryl Tisch, Howard Milstein, Penny Pritzker, Tom and Andi Bernstein and New York Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Steve Israel.

(Another piece from Politico on the same fundraiser)  There are some very interesting names on that list, but Bronfman obviously stood out.  I am still impressed that he and the family donated for a building - and later many other things - when he didn’t actually graduate from Williams (would have been class of ‘50, got his bachelor’s from McGill in ‘51).  We gave him an honorary degree in 1986 though, and a Bicentennial Medal in 2005.  Funny, the honorary degree isn’t indicated in his entry in the online Alumni Directory.  The announcement re: the Medal also is cagey about his graduating or not, saying only that he was “a member of the class of 1950″ but the other entries state “after graduation from Williams in 19XX.”  Subsequent to the family giving $1.25 million of the $3.9 million needed for the building (bit of history here with fabulous ’60s pictures), several other members of the Bronfman family also went to Williams (Samuel II ‘75 and Matthew ‘81 - sons of Edgar, and Stephen ‘86 - nephew of Edgar, son of Charles who actually spearheaded the family fundraising for the building).  There is also a Fiona Wood ’81 that comes up when you search the directory…hard to track all the family members so I assume she fits in there somehow.  Google can only give you so much info.  Bronfman also gave $5 million in 2003 for scholarships “to help extend need-blind admission to all international applicants” which should make David proud.  He also gave money toward the building of the Jewish Religious Center.

I wonder if this means that Obama will get an ugly, overly concrete building for his campaign HQ now?  I know there are those out there who sing the praise of strange ’60s and ’70s concrete & brick architecture like that of Bronfman (seen around campus in Greylock, Sawyer library, Prospect), but I have always found the interiors of such buildings cold, the sound quality terrible, and the weird odor from the concrete during warm humid days somewhat disconcerting. 

Let me be clear that I fully applaud the ideals of a unified science center, and I appreciate how much space it provides.  It allowed advances in science at Williams in a very real way (read the above link with the fun pictures).  But starting out as a math major and spending much of my first two years in there and also spending many long nights there in my later years as a tutor with the Math/Science Resource Center, I grew to detest its cramped classrooms, often dim interior, and weird echoes.  Perhaps I am alone in thinking this…and at least it doesn’t have the bizarre waffle ceilings like Greylock, but it’s not my favorite bit of Williams.  I personally think it’s one of the examples of technically “great architecture” without thinking about people enjoying of the use of the building.  I’m sure those who disagree with me will freely comment below.  My opinion may also be biased by spending much time of late in the large number of similarly styled government buildings in and around DC.  It just seems weird to me that if you accidently brush a wall on the INSIDE of a building, you could skin your knuckles.

I should point out that the Jewish Religious Center is a truly gorgeous building - inside and out - that is functional, filled with light, and beautiful.  So I guess Bronfman’s involvement doesn’t actually require an ugly building…this just gave me a fun hook to tie a few different comments about Williams together ;)

Anyhow, viva la generous rich alums!  I’m sure this bit of fundraising will lead to all kinds of interesting commentary in the MSM, especially with some of these folks’ former support of Clinton and the fact that Bernstein is a former classmate and supporter of George W.  Too bad most bios of Bronfman don’t mention Williams at all…maybe some will now link to this little item?

On several occasion Ephblog has queried the carbon impact of the Stetson-Sawyer project as part of the blog’s consistent and to my mind inexplicable hostility to the nation’s nascent efforts to rein in energy waste and carbon emissions. Sure, there’s a fair amount of sanctimony and even some hypocrisy associated with this movement. But is there any social movement that isn’t afflicted by an element of sanctimony?

As for Stetson-Sawyer, let me preface my remarks by saying that I’m no expert on carbon budgeting, a complex science. Presumably, doing carbon budgets for new construction not only requires information on existing energy usage and the projected usage by new buildings, but also close attention to the energy costs of demolition/construction and the cost of producing all the raw materials used in the project, less recycled materials, etc., etc. That’s way beyond my competence or analytical inclination. Anyway, I prefer to pay attention to my day job as a professor.

That said, if we use increased square-footage as proxy for a carbon footprint, Stetson-Sawyer has a modest impact. The office buildings are replacing several structures that have been, or will be, razed : Fernald House, Seeley House, and two large additions to the rear of the original 1923 Stetson Hall. Weston Hall, which will be vacated by the language faculty when the two new academic buildings are completed, will be not demolished, largely because it has historic significance. It eventually will be occupied by some other administrative unit that might otherwise have needed new construction. [Preemptive strike on Dave K: Please don't ask me for data on the net square footage gain because (1) I don't have it; (2) Early efforts to assemble it raised a host of apples-to-oranges problems associated with comparing the square footage of residential-scale office buildings with the more institutional scale of Stetson-Sawyer. In other words, the data are accessible in theory but not particularly useful in practice. What I can say with absolute certainty is that if Williams weren't building new offices, it would be spending a lot of money renewing the existing ones, which were long overdue for renovation. And the result would still fail to meet institutional needs, an example of throwing good money after bad.]

The 159 faculty offices in the North and South Academic Buildings are no larger than 160SF each, which is hardly extravagant. The space is needed, first, for faculty books and files, which are the tools of our trade and thus (within reason) merit institutional support; and second, to accommodate tutorial classes and student meetings. The comparison to corporate office settings is risible. When I examined the furniture layouts initially brought forward by the project’s furniture vendor, I almost fell on the floor laughing: one bookcase, which I guess is the business standard. Instead, we’ll need 4-7 bookcases per office (each 36′x 84″), and that won’t fully house the books that some faculty wish to bring over from Stetson. A few faculty will, in fact, be moving to offices smaller than their current ones, although those of us currently in the old Stetson stacks will be grateful finally to have ceilings higher than the existing 6′7″.

The new Library/IT center replaces the existing Sawyer Library and will likely be only modestly larger than Sawyer. This works because as many as a third of the books held by Sawyer, Archives, and the Chapin Rare Books Library will be stored in a utilitarian facility offsite. The original Stetson Hall will be restored and reused after renovations related to code-compliance and energy efficiency. I’ll spare readers a discussion of why it didn’t make economic sense to renovate the existing Sawyer, an option that the college and a raft of consultants spent more than a year studying in painstaking detail. Trust me: it didn’t. As an added benefit, Williams gets a vastly superior site plan for this part of the campus, including a new green in front of Stetson.

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After more than 72 hours of rain, the ground is absolutely saturated with water, and most of the pathways around campus are closer to waterways than pathways. (One severe storm hit MCLA pretty badly.) This morning, after several hours of particularly heavy rain, the dining hall in Mission Park flooded. Nobody knows when Mission will be up and running again–signs posted by Dining Services say “Due to serious flooding, Mission is closed until further notice”–but the pumps and fans are running, and all the standing water is gone, so hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Construction of the North Academic Building, part of the first phase of the Stetson-Sawyer project, is well underway. This building, which will contain approximately 110 faculty offices, several classrooms, a language lab, the college’s first archaeology lab, and other resources, is being built immediately to the north of Sawyer Library. You can see four pictures of the foundation work here.

Construction of the smaller South Academic Building begins after the close of Alumni Reunions. Safety fences will go up on or about June 11.

The good news is that both buildings should be completed by late summer 2008. At that point construction activities will move to Stetson Hall and the area immediately behind it, where they will be far less of an intrusion on normal campus life.

Most recent e-mail from the so-called [edit: by people who think it is funny to refer to him as such (considering the power that he has attained with the invention of the Office of Campus Life and the construction of the Paresky Center), not to in any way suggest that he refers to himself as such] “Dean Schiazza”:

Welcome back from Spring Break! Here’s this week’s Paresky Update!

- PRESALE - Spring Fling Concert Tix @ Paresky Info Center TOMORROW:
Reservations for this year’s Spring Fling Concert featuring Guster with The Format will be available to Williams students and faculty/staff only for a SPECAL PRESALE PRICE of $10 - this Friday, April 6 from 12noon to 2pm. To reserve your spot at the show for this special price, go to the Paresky Information Center / ACE Office window (near the Park St. side of Paresky) with your college ID to sign up. Note: no paper tickets will be issued - reservations will get you a handstamp or wristband on the day of the show.

Regular Ticket Prices: student tickets $15 with ID; Non-Williams price $25. (Tickets will be available shortly through www.williamstickets.com)

- First Fridays “Garden Party” in Paresky Tomorrow Night! It may be cold and wintry out, but it’s a garden inside! There will be a DJ for dancing on the first floor in the Dining Room, and Ritmo Latino dancing in the basement! 10pm - 1am.

- Spring Break Construction - much of it is not so noticeable to the naked eye, but a lot of little details were worked on in Paresky during Spring Break. One quite-visible change is the lighting in the Great Hall - the light fixtures now in place provide better lighting in the space, and were designed to reflect the angle of the ceiling of the Great Hall.

- Speaking of building lighting… this is a work in progress. In general, we’re still working on the computer system to figure out the best way to light the building safely while also reducing our energy usage. We’re also still planning to increase lighting in the Fay Vincent Reading Room.

- Room Names - did you notice that in the previous bullet? Many spaces in Paresky have names associated with them (you’ve likely already noticed names like Henze, Luetkemeyer, ‘58, etc.). I’m hoping to be able to share a list of those in next week’s update, along with a little bit of information about each one.

You know, there are web sites for this kind of information — it doesn’t have to go in an all-campus e-mail; you could, say, link to such information.

- The Information Center is now open! Hours: Mondays - Thursdays from 4pm - 12midnight, Fridays from 4pm - 1am, Saturdays from 11am - 1am, and Sundays from 11am - 12midnight. A Student Assistant is available to answer questions and to assist you. They will eventually be trained on basic audio/visual aspects of the building, and will have board games & cards available to check out for free (we ordered those yesterday), as well as game supplies for Luetkemeyer (for ping pong, air hockey, billiards, and foosball when they are all installed), which can also be checked out for free. The Information Center (a.k.a. the ACE Office) is located on the 1st floor near the Park Street entrance, at the roll-up window.

Ah yes, the all-important Game Room Attendant job is back. I am glad to hear that these students, who were required to wear a funny blue smock with reflective orange stripes, won’t have to follow Security around anymore and will be back in the student center.

- The ATM was installed today! You can find it near the Information Center, 1st floor near the Park Street entrance. (Please note - the ATM in Hopkins is no longer available.)

- The Jessica H. Park Mailroom is now open on the first floor of Paresky. Please note: students, be sure to take care of your own packaging materials when you pick up your mail items (i.e., if you’re throwing things out, use the recycling bins, and if you have a box, take it with you).

As I learned from Sheafe, Jessica H. Park is (I can only assume) Emeritus Professor of Physics David Park’s daughter. Professor Park’s wife actually wrote a whole book about this daughter, who works in the mail room. In case you were wondering.

- A reminder that College Council is available for students’ Paresky
suggestions. If you have suggestions/ideas for Paresky, College Council has asked that you forward those to Diana Jaffe (08dsj), Jonathan Misk (07jnm), or Christophe Dorsey-Guillaumin (10cad). I met with Diana, Jonathan, and Christophe today, and they had a great list of things to consider, so you’re coming up with some wonderful ideas!

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This isn’t as appealing as Diana’s glamour shots of Peresky meals, but here’s an image of the building site of Stetson-Sawyer’s future North Academic Building. In the background you can see Bernhard and Lehman. Currently underway: (1) removal of old underground pipes and (2) drilling in preparation for blasting to remove the substantial bedrock just beneath the surface of this part of the site. Photograph taken from the “Il Duce” balcony of Stetson Hall, just off the Stetson Reading Room.

More to come!

Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:17:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stephen.P.Klass@williams.edu
To: williams-personnel@williams.edu, williams-students@williams.edu
Subject: Stetson-Sawyer

To the Williams Community,

Tomorrow is a day that many on campus have long dreamed about and/or worked toward–the beginning of the Stetson-Sawyer project.

The first step will be installing fencing around the construction area for the North Academic Building. A sketch of that area is here. It also shows the construction area for the South Academic Building, the fencing for which will go up just after Reunion Weekend this June.

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Construction of the new Paresky Center (site of former Baxter Hall) is in its final stages. Three photographs of the building, taken during a recent hardhat tour, can be browsed here.

The Berkshire Eagle has an article on the ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance, including a picture of the MainStage.

On Saturday, I (along with about 40 other Alumni Fund volunteers) got a tour of the new ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance. I thought I’d pass along my impressions for those wondering what it’s like, and would encourage others to take a look when they’re in Williamstown. It officially opens at the end of April, and should be fully fluffed and buffed for Reunion.

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