With the new Hewitt building hopefully reaching completion by the start of the fall 2024 semester, I feel like there are still many glaring issues that need to be addressed when it comes to the campus aesthetic. As I am sure we have all noticed, all of the buildings on the west side of campus, as well as most of the center of campus, are all just concrete blocks with few windows that have not been updated in many years. Hewitt’s recent updates have made it feel a little more modern, but the concrete on the outside still keeps it from breaking free of the 1950s war-torn bunker aesthetic.
While the campus has spent a ton of money sprucing up Hewitt so they can move the communications department into it, they have still neglected to fix or remove one of the worst eye-sores on campus… the Hewitt Quad. The mural that is painted onto the quad was done back in 2019, and though it has only been about four and a half years, the wear-and-tear from Owego’s lake effect weather has left it looking old and dirty.
On top of the quad itself being a bit of an eye-sore, it is also starting to wear down the concrete that it is made up of; the stairs that lead in and out of the quad have been crumbling away for years now. When it snows, they can be hazardous as the quad itself gets extremely slippery. While there are some students that might cross through the quad in order to get to their classes faster, most students go out of their way to avoid the quad altogether.
My final issue with the quad is that it is never used for anything. The school has a wide open space that is never touched outside of some students walking through it to reach Lanigan, Mahar or Tyler Hall. Sometimes when the weather is warm you will see skateboarders use it, but you will also see them skateboard on the walkway next to the quad instead of going into it. It is a useless space that has run its course with this campus. There needs to be a plan to move on from a concrete divot to make room for something students would actually care for.
Maybe it becomes another area for students to sit and hang out during the warmer months, or maybe it is a space to include more student-made sculptures. There are other things that space can be used for, but right now it is not being utilized in the right way. If the campus does want to keep it around, they would at least care for it and not let it crumble into the aesthetic of the surrounding buildings. I think the facelift that Hewitt got is the perfect precursor to fixing or changing the quad.
Photo by: Gabriella Patterson
