Oswego State has a long list of renovations for the central area surrounding Hewitt Hall, Lanigan Hall, Penfield Library and Mahar Hall, and the plans are elaborate.
Hewitt Hall’s reconstruction has already started and there is talk within the Facilities Services Department of Oswego State to expand that through the rest of the central campus. Ideas include replacing concrete with green space, new spots for students to hang out and renovated buildings.
“To continue serpentine flow through the quad is the ongoing direction,” Amy Enwright, project coordinator for Facilities Services major projects, said.
The main idea of these renovations is to pull the campus together. The central campus area is one that almost all students pass through every day, but at the moment is dulled with cracked concrete. With the ongoing construction, the area surrounding the quad will be more connected to the west and east sides of campus.
The plan maps out that the concrete will be replaced with grass, trees and shrubs making the area more exciting and full of life. The director of major projects for Facilities Services, Allen Bradberry, said there could be around a 72% reduction in the pavement in the area. Through the green spaces there would be a natural flow of paths that connect with the other side of campus for students to walk through, Bradberry said.
“We have an opportunity to … make it more inviting, more innovative,” Bradberry said.
The team working on this wants to make students feel welcomed to the area around the quad. Students do not feel this way with the current display of the area. Art major Shea McCarthy was involved with the project of painting the mural in the quad and said they did it to bring a pop of color to the area and to draw attention to it.
“[We] want people to feel invited to come in,” McCarthy said.
The art department buildings are located on central campus, and art students do not feel that others know they are welcomed inside. The idea with the mural and other art projects line up with the proposal of the construction on central campus, to invite students to spend more time there.
The proposal for these renovations is written in a presentation booklet called the “Hewitt/Penfield/Lanigan Quad Study.”
In the study, there are multiple options on what the Facilities Services Department wants to do for the central campus. There have also been multiple meetings discussing major concepts that they want to execute on Oswego State’s campus, and these meetings will continue throughout the whole execution. The proposal explains the renovations and include the ways they will go about installing greenery, building renovations, new spaces and even explores the idea of outdoor classrooms.
“A preferred design option was selected and advanced to a concept design level and is intended to be completed in several phases, the idea being that as future projects are identified or funding becomes available, another phase can be constructed until all phases are complete,” the project overview said.
The renovations will be expanded in a “piece by piece” project, Bradberry said. Their main focus now is Hewitt Hall. The thought behind the construction is to put in green spaces around the entire building. They are going to expand on the walkway near Culkin that has already been replaced with greenery, J. Mitchell Fields, associate vice president of Facilities Services, said. They are installing two porches on either side of Hewitt Hall for performances for the theater department and students to use.
Along with all of this, they are planning to install a cafe inside the building and connecting it to an outside part of the café, which will include tables and chairs located at the front of the building.
After the Hewitt Hall renovations are finished, they are planning on moving forward to the next part of the proposal. By the funding permitting, they plan to connect Lanigan Hall and Penfield Library with an atrium creating a large two-story space. With doing this, the 24-hour room and Lake Effect Café locations will be swapped, so they can expand Lake Effect into a bigger space.
There are many more ideas in the works, however, nothing is set in stone. Plans are subject to change along the way and will change depending on the funding that is received for this proposal. If everything goes to plan, the project could take several years. These are long-term ideas that are trying to make the central campus a more engaging area for students. There are a lot of exciting plans in the works for Oswego State and its future students.
Photo by Colin Hawkins | The Oswegonian
