2008 Woodie Awards
Expansion plans raise concern about green space
Matthew DeAndrea '10
Issue date: 11/17/06 Section: News
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The Saint Joseph's campus is known for its distinctive architecture and almost rural feel. Buildings like the gothic Barbelin stand proudly besides groves of trees and carefully kept lawns. But plans the school is now considering might alter the face of campus forever, and many of these distinctive features could become overshadowed or lost.
Father Dennis McNally, S.J., Fine and Performing Arts chair, has deep concerns about the planned alterations to campus. His worries encompass nearly the entire suggested program, but his main concern is the proposed addition to the library, which would extend from the position of the current building to Barbelin, a space that is currently home to several venerable trees. Allowing that some of the trees are diseased, Father McNally still holds that the loss of those that remain healthy would be a tragedy.
He's not alone in this worry. Ian Petrie, Ph.D., faculty advisor to the G.R.E.E.N.C.O.W. environmental organization, has voiced concerns about the project as well as several other faculty members, including Father Joseph Feeney, S.J.
Fr. Feeney mentioned a plan to plant new tress for each one torn down, but took pains to express that "six little trees are not worth one 100-year-old tree."
It is not only the threat to local flora that worries the concerned faculty. The gigantic modernistic structure, he fears, will completely overshadow the easily recognizable Barbelin building. Fr. McNally worries about what will happen to the feel of the campus if Barbelin's gothic tower is placed "next to something that looks like a K-Mart." Fr. Feeney also feels that the library addition will "overshadow" Barbelin, especially since the architect plans on making it a bright white structure that might outshine Barbelin's subdued browns.
But are these concerns relevant to a real clear and present danger? Not according to Marjorie A. Rathbone, Associate Director for Resources Management at Francis A. Drexel Library. She says that the library work is still in only the most basic planning stages - and the official literature backs her up. According to Library Lines, the Library newsletter, the project so far has consisted of little more than a feasibility proposal and few vague ideas about what the extension might look like. According to Rathbone, the architects are sensitive to the look and feel of campus, and the gigantic white and plate glass monstrosities causing the consternation are merely meant to serve as a starting point. The project has no definite designs, no definite plans, and at the moment no definite budget.
Father Dennis McNally, S.J., Fine and Performing Arts chair, has deep concerns about the planned alterations to campus. His worries encompass nearly the entire suggested program, but his main concern is the proposed addition to the library, which would extend from the position of the current building to Barbelin, a space that is currently home to several venerable trees. Allowing that some of the trees are diseased, Father McNally still holds that the loss of those that remain healthy would be a tragedy.
He's not alone in this worry. Ian Petrie, Ph.D., faculty advisor to the G.R.E.E.N.C.O.W. environmental organization, has voiced concerns about the project as well as several other faculty members, including Father Joseph Feeney, S.J.
Fr. Feeney mentioned a plan to plant new tress for each one torn down, but took pains to express that "six little trees are not worth one 100-year-old tree."
It is not only the threat to local flora that worries the concerned faculty. The gigantic modernistic structure, he fears, will completely overshadow the easily recognizable Barbelin building. Fr. McNally worries about what will happen to the feel of the campus if Barbelin's gothic tower is placed "next to something that looks like a K-Mart." Fr. Feeney also feels that the library addition will "overshadow" Barbelin, especially since the architect plans on making it a bright white structure that might outshine Barbelin's subdued browns.
But are these concerns relevant to a real clear and present danger? Not according to Marjorie A. Rathbone, Associate Director for Resources Management at Francis A. Drexel Library. She says that the library work is still in only the most basic planning stages - and the official literature backs her up. According to Library Lines, the Library newsletter, the project so far has consisted of little more than a feasibility proposal and few vague ideas about what the extension might look like. According to Rathbone, the architects are sensitive to the look and feel of campus, and the gigantic white and plate glass monstrosities causing the consternation are merely meant to serve as a starting point. The project has no definite designs, no definite plans, and at the moment no definite budget.
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