Claire Montgomery
Senior News Writer
Three student forums with the same information about updates to the Lowry Center ren- ovations were held on Nov. 14, 2019. In an email to the campus community about the upcoming forum discussions, President Sarah Bolton stated, “We hope many students will come by to talk about what we’ve heard so far from students and staff and the ideas that are emerging, and to hear more about what’s most important to you and what ques- tions or concerns you have.”
The forums were hosted by Matt Hyatt, an architect with Bergmeyer Associates who is supervising the Lowry revova- tion. “Our hope today is just to get some feedback from you,” Hyatt stated in his opening remarks. He explained that planning for the renovations have been happening since August and that considerations of how the student population wants to use the building versus how the building can be utilized are being evaluated.
Hyatt started by explaining what the overarching vision for the project is. As stated during Hyatt’s presentation, the project vision is “to enhance community by creating a bright, welcoming center for students to gather, meet, study, relax, engage and connect, to significantly improve the campus dining experience for students and dining staff; to bring together some of the services that are most important to students, but that are currently far apart; to make it easier to get support and meet other needs; to make Lowry Center more efficient and sustainable [and] to create an accessible, inclusive and welcoming place for all.”
Hyatt stressed that the cur- rent ideas the architects have for the building are “subject to change” and that what was being presented are “living bullets” that “are always being evolved.” Hyatt then went over the feedback the architects have got- ten so far in different sessions. These sessions included a group of campus stakeholders, differ- ent project teams including engineers, campus sustainability and Student Dining, a meeting with the campus Resident Assistants in one of their weekly meetings, an Alumni Council meeting and the suggestions posted on the Art Wall.
The feedback that was received from the different groups included sustainability concerns, specifically that there should be a way to track the energy usage in the building, bringing the building up to the Leadership in Energy and Enviornmantal Design (LEED) standards and energy efficient upgrades with attention to windows, lights and food service equipment. Attention was also paid to student and staff wellness, with natural light and healthy meals being stressed, as well as concerns about accessibility issues.
However, while the designs are still in the planning stage, Hyatt emphasized different groups’ desires to maintain the “Wooster feel” of the building. For example, Hyatt discussed that groups wanted to keep the Pit, use the same “Wooster brick” and make the design “sympathetic to the architecture of campus,” not bringing in any national brands, maintaining the Art Wall and space for tabling and preserving a “sense of home” — a concept in which this place starts to feel like a home away from home that is recognizable even after spend- ing years off campus, and more.
After Hyatt finished his demonstration of how Lowry Cen- ter may be designed, he opened up the floor to student thoughts. One student explained that they were wary of the renovations before now, but that they felt confident that Bergmeyer was doing a good job of responding to student wants and needs.
Hyatt concluded the discus- sion by encouraging students to continue to present their thoughts about the Lowry renovations, and that they are planning on entering the bidding stage of the design in January 2020.