Two Families Help Make Alumni Center a Reality
A Home for Alumni
New Year Will See Cochran Hall Transformed into Alumni Center
Grants & Gifts
Read more about the grants Allegheny was recently awarded
Tradition & Transformation: Making a Difference
The campaign for Allegheny College
CEED
The Latest from the Center for Economic and Environmental Development
On the Hill
New Trustees; New Accelerated Master's; New Mentoring Program
Sports
New Heights for Soccer and Cross Country; All-Americans; Athletes of the Year
The Last Word
Remarkable New Alumni Center Will Reflect Our Remarkable Alumni
In its 1908 incarnation, Cochran Hall was a men's dormitory with an ornate wood-paneled dining room on the first floor and a YMCA and bowling alley in the basement. Since then it has gone through repeated transformations.
The east entrance - Generations of students will recall the plain back facade of the building and the parking lot connected to it. Come back next year and you will see a two-story addition that will create a second front to the building. Visitors will now be able to enter from the original entrance on Main Street or the new entrance, which will carry the name "The Patricia Bush Tippie Alumni Center." The parking lot will give way to new steps, a patio, and walkways.
The first floor - Whether you enter from Main Street or from the addition, you won't recognize the place. The new east entrance will lead into the alumni greeting center and a gallery for art or exhibits of memorabilia. The grandeur of the old dining room is being restored, and the room will be named to honor that project's major donors, Bill and Carol Tillotson.
If you enter the first floor from Main Street, you'll notice that the old fluted oak columns have been stripped, repaired, and re-stained. The first floor will also hold a library for books by alumni and faculty authors. Previously this space had served as a classroom and as a convenience store. The library will also hold memorabilia, computers with Internet access, and comfortable seating for alumni seeking a quiet place to talk with friends. The first floor will also hold a new meeting room. Finally, a new pantry and kitchen area will make it easier to ready catered food for guests.
The second floor - Once housing men's dorm rooms, the second floor later became home to the Campus and WARC, and then classrooms and office space for the English department. The second floor is being gutted and will be rebuilt as the new home of the alumni affairs and development offices.
The basement - The bowling alley and YMCA have long since disappeared. Many alumni will recall a student hangout called the Grill, which filled the YMCA spot. More recently, it has housed the College's print shop. The bowling alley eventually gave way to the bookstore. In the new Cochran Hall, the basement will house a meeting room, file space for the development office, heating and air-conditioning equipment, a call center, and undeveloped space for future use.
