By Molly Igoe
News Editor
WC students need not wait any longer to see the two newest additions on campus. Corsica Hall and Barbara and George Cromwell Hall are open and ready for use.
The new academic building is named after two alumns, Barbara Cromwell, Class of 1955, and George Cromwell, Class of 1953, in honor of their philanthropic work and dedication to the College.
The Cromwell building has two laboratories on the first floor, one for environmental science and another for the anthropology department. The second floor has faculty offices and one large classroom that holds up to 30 students, as well as a conference/seminar room open for anyone to use.
Reid Raudenbush, director of the physical plant, described why Cromwell is unique: “This building is environmentally friendly, as it is the first LEED gold building on campus, and we will be getting a certificate to display in the building that shows this.”
Certain qualifications had to be met for Cromwell to qualify as LEED gold, including the restriction that they could only source materials from within 500 miles of the building site. The building also boasts a geothermal heating and cooling system and LED lights with occupancy sensors that respond to motion, which make the building much more energy efficient.
Raudenbush said that the building is being constructed in two phases for financial reasons, and that this second phase should be complete by 2018. It will house the mathematics and computer science departments.
The much-anticipated Corsica Hall is already housing students, and although there have been some minor problems with AC units and shower valves, everything seems to be going smoothly, Raudenbush said.
The new residence hall is identical to the other river dorms, Chester and Sassafras, except that it houses more students and it has some Jack-and-Jill -style bathrooms, meaning there is a shared bathroom and two individual sinks in the adjoining rooms. It also has plank flooring in the kitchens as opposed to the tile in Chester and Sassafras.
Raudenbush said other projects are upcoming for WC, including the installation of a new AC/heating unit for Kent House, which has been taken offline for the semester, and construction of the new boathouse, which is still in the fundraising and planning process. He expects construction to begin by 2017.