University hires architect to redesign Butler as four-year college

Photo by Jesse Levinson

Lourie-Love (r.), 1942 and 1940 halls are three of the five Butler College dormitories that will be demolished by 2009 to make room for new, four-year residential halls.

The University decided in December 2003 that it would tear down most of Butler College's dormitory buildings rather than renovate them.

Wu Hall, 1915 Hall and the yet-to-be completed Ellipse dormitory will continue to be part of Butler, University Architect Jon Hlafter GS '63 said.

The trustees said, however, that they hope to blend the new buildings' styles with the remaining architecture of Butler, unlike the case of Whitman College, for which the trustees prescribed a collegiate Gothic style.

Of the current buildings, the University plans to tear down Lourie-Love, 1922, 1940, 1941 and 1942 halls.

Architecture firm selected

The new buildings' architectural styles have not yet been determined, Hlafter added. However, the University recently appointed Henry Cobb of the New York-based architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed and Partners to head the project.

Cobb designed the Friend Center, which was completed in September 2001. But Cobb has not worked on any residential building on campus.

"[The trustees] have shown an interest in a more cohesive college," Hlafter said. "[The new dormitories] will probably not be collegiate gothic or the stone building. We are hoping that what will be designed and constructed will unify the complex, 1915, Wu and the Ellipse."

Cobb plans to visit campus this month to study the existing campus dormitories — in particular those in Bulter — and examine the site of the future construction.

Hlafter said he thought the University will have a better idea of the design of the complex within a year.

The trustees will then review the plans, he added.

Construction schedule

Butler is scheduled to be razed in the summer of 2007, and construction is expected to be completed by 2009, Hlafter said, though the noisiest parts of the process will be done during the summers.

Even members of the Class of 2007 — currently freshman — will not witness Butler's demolition.

The construction will commence after the completion of Whitman College, which will provide 500 additional beds to undergraduates.

Even with Cobb heading up the design plans, the University plans to incorporate current student and Butler alumni's opinions in the process.

"The whole reason the thought of reconstructing [the dormitories] instead of renewing them has a lot to do with the general reactions about the dorms that have occurred over the years," Hlafter said. "Students have been critiquing those dormitories for 40 years. Some of those students are now trustees. The opinions of current students will be given weight as would the opinion of former students."

The new buildings, however, are not the only changes to Butler. It will also join Whitman and Mathey as a four-year residential college.