Although the beauty of our campus landscape and historic buildings is timeless, the needs of our students, faculty, and staff change as new technologies and resources become available. By restoring and preserving our historic buildings while transforming our facilities to meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century, we ensure that Allegheny's future is as distinguished and bright as its past. Investing in the following areas will ensure that Allegheny's rich legacy is preserved and enhanced for future generations.
New facilities and renovations. Several construction and renovation projects will serve as focal points for the transformation of campus facilities to better meet the needs of our College community. A new theatre and communication arts center will showcase our already fine programs - which are unusually strong and dynamic for a college of our size - and allow them to grow.
"The teaching and practice of theatre are uniquely suited to the liberal arts institution. Theatre is by its very nature interdisciplinary: it relies on the study of history, political science, anthropology, psychology, and literature, while it utilizes the practice of music, dance, fine arts, and rhetoric. It is a collaborative art, for no one can produce theatre alone." - Professor of Communication Arts/Theatre Beth Watkins
Renovations to the Campus Center will centralize student organizations, the bookstore, and post office and include more options for recreation and dining, thus creating a vibrant hub for campus activity.
Restoration of one of our most elegant buildings, Cochran Hall, will transform it into one of the finest alumni centers to be found on any small college campus, a tangible recognition of how important our alumni are to the life of Allegheny College.
Campus grounds and outdoor facilities. Our campus is the result of almost two hundred years of careful planning - and planting. We have an obligation to maintain and enhance that legacy through additional plantings and landscape initiatives. As a college that is at the forefront of environmental education, we also have an obligation to implement environmentally responsible, low-maintenance approaches to landscaping and upkeep, approaches that can serve as national models for other campuses.
Our outdoor athletics facilities - used on a daily basis by many of our students, whether or not they play on sports teams - must be brought up to the standard set by the David V. Wise Sport and Fitness Center. By strengthening our outdoor athletics facilities with projects such as the construction of an all-weather track at Robertson Field, we'll meet the fitness needs of students and ensure that athletics programs stay competitive.
Library and archives. How libraries conduct their work may change, but their central purpose does not: They manage and make accessible the informational resources vital to the work of a community of scholars. Investments in technological capabilities, printed works, electronic databases, and enhancements to physical spaces - all are necessary for Pelletier Library to keep up with the needs of the students and faculty who rely on information to drive their research.
Our library not only must keep pace with new technologies but also must continue the archival work that is necessary to preserve the scholarly treasures represented by our special collections, including the Lincoln collection, the papers of alumna Ida Tarbell, and the remarkable collections of books that formed the College's very first library more than 180 years ago.
"As I attempt to write about the history of Allegheny, I sense a cloud of witnesses hovering, saying 'Do you understand? Do you realize what we were doing, what we achieved, how much it mattered, and how much we gave and cared?' I work in awe, surrounded by the aura of sacrifice of those who went before. Their achievement against great odds cries out for recognition, and it inspires hope that the torch will be carried forward." - Jonathan Helmreich, College Historian and Professor Emeritus of History
