Those enjoying the warm spring weather this week may have discovered a new place to bask in the sun — the newly renovated, tree-lined Scudder Plaza and redesigned Wilson School fountain.
Work at the neighboring Robertson Hall necessitated rebuilding the plaza, Grounds Manager Jim Consolloy said, but the University took the opportunity to work creatively with the space.
"[The changes] have really opened up the area," Consolloy said. "They have made it a more pleasant space."
In the course of the renovation —which made the area handicapped-accessible — the University reworked the entire plaza, importing granite from Montreal, adding planters, benches, and 16 trees to make the area a nice place to sit, Consolloy said.
The inspiration for the area came in part from a "field trip" University physical planners and architects took to New York City, where they went to see plazas to generate ideas for Scudder, Consolloy said.
Enlarged steps in the northeast corner of the plaza provide "a nice view through to Shapiro Walk," Consolloy said, providing continuity from the plaza to the path to the Friend Center, Computer Science building and E-Quad.
And Wilson School majors will have a newly remodeled pool to run through after finishing their theses this year. Consolloy said the new rectangular shape, with steps leading down to the water, is another measure to make the space more inviting.
"This way, you can opt to sit in or out," he said of the new design.
The pool was filled last Friday to test the Wilson School fountain, which sits in the middle of the pool and which was unchanged by renovations. It will not be fully operational until it passes a series of tests, however, said Jay Belli, senior project manager in the office of physical planning.
Consolloy said the contractor responsible for the plaza renovation, Sordoni Skanska Inc., is in the process of testing the fountain.
"There's a step-by-step checklist to make sure all the pumps and controls work," Belli said, as well as training for the University employees who will operate it.
Belli said that once the University is satisfied with the fountain's performance, it will run regularly.
Though Belli said it is uncertain how long the fountain testing will take, it appears that the water in the pool will allow this year's seniors to take part in the tradition of immersing themselves in the fountain after handing in their theses. In recent years, the renovations and drought restrictions have hampered access to the water.
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