Construction for Mateer’s replacement will begin in June
Janel England
Senior News Writer
The College will begin the demolition of Mateer Hall in June in preparation for the new Williams Hall of Life Science building.
Williams Hall will be connected to all levels of Severance Hall for the purpose of uniting biology, chemistry, biochemisty and molecular biology, neuroscience and environmental studies within one facility.
“The new building will not only promote connections among the faculty and students associated with the departments and programs that reside in the building, but also is designed to be inviting and welcoming to students and faculty from other disciplines and from our broader community,” said Provost and Professor of biology Carolyn Newton.
After an analysis of the College’s buildings, Mateer Hall was singled out as “the next academic facility in need of major overhaul or replacement,” said John Hopkins, associate vice president for College relations and marketing.
“Mateer was built for the way the teaching and research in the life sciences was done almost 50 years ago,” said Hopkins. “The new Ruth W. Williams Hall of Life Science is being designed from the ground up for the way science teaching and research is done today, and built with the flexibility to adapt to changes that occur in the future,” added Hopkins.
According to Newton, the plans for the new building have been drawn up by EYP, an architectural firm based in Washington DC; however, last spring, a small group of faculty from the College toured a variety of recently built science buildings across the country to gather ideas for the upcoming project. The group included Professor of biology and biochemistry and molecular biology Dean Fraga and Professor of chemistry and biochemistry and molecular biology Mark Snider.
“Some of the highlights of these trips included the magnificent Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Science at St. Olaf’s College. Their integration of various disciplines into one building, including their use of shared research spaces were two concepts we borrowed,” said Fraga. “They also demonstrated how important it was that the various spaces in science center should flow and work together for a common purpose.”
“The Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton offered us a glimpse of how well glass walls could be used to open up spaces, make them more inviting, more sustaining for the human soul, and even safer,” said Snider. “In addition, we saw how important informal gathering spaces were for ‘livability’ and bestowing a welcoming feeling to visitors of a science center. And finally, the Rector Science Complex at Dickinson College showed us what was possible with regard to innovative classrooms and teaching labs and value of diverse types of study nooks.”
Newton also cited the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and Trinity University in Texas as providing inspiration for the group.
“What we appreciated about these buildings was their beauty and welcoming ambience, their effective use of natural light, their integration of several sciences through close proximity and shared spaces for equipment, their varied spaces for informal student study spaces, which we found to be highly sought after, the shared research spaces that we thought would be ideal for Wooster’s undergraduate research, and the incorporation of a café, making the space an attractive gathering area for the community,” said Newton.
Within Williams Hall, in addition to traditional classrooms, there will be new classrooms, named “Think Tanks” that will be adjacent to teaching labs and constructed of mostly glass in order to make the research occurring within visible to all.
Newton also said that “many attractive informal student study spaces ranging in size from small nooks to a large two-story commons area, nicknamed the Treehouse, … a presentation space, and café, to be called the Knowlton Commons,” will also be housed in Williams Hall.
Hopkins said that the construction of Williams Hall will be the largest project in the College’s history, totaling $40 million.
The main donors for the project are Ruth W. Williams ’61 and A. Morris Williams Jr., Richard J. Bell ’63, Stanley C. Gault ’48, William A. Longbrake ’65, Doug Brush ’77, Doon Allen Foster ’80 and John Foster, as well as the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.
Mateer Hall’s contents are scheduled to be moved out the day after Commencement of this year. The construction of Williams Hall will begin immediately after Mateer is demolished.
“Bogner Construction Management Company was chosen to serve as the construction manager for the project. They have a long-standing relationship with the College and have delivered many of the College’s major projects, on time and on budget, including the Scot Center, Bornhuetter Hall, Gault Manor and the renovations of Kauke Hall and Gault Schoolhouse,” said Hopkins.
The project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2018.