By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
11/5/09
It took years of thinking and planning, designing, strategizing and ultimately bringing thoughts on paper to reality – and for all that effort, the new student center at Curry College is now alive and bustling with student activity. Although construction on the $35 million building project finished in the spring, and was commemorated with a “soft” public opening in May while finishing touches were still being made, it was with the start of the new school year at Curry that the doors to the student center truly swung open with a bang for the first time. Walking around inside the 84,000-square-foot facility, which was designed by CBT Architects and built by Suffolk Construction, it is not hard to understand why it has quickly become the new “place to be” on campus. From the luxurious expanses of the main entrance lobby – with its plush furnishings and fireplaced lounge – to the modern, casual feel of the dining halls and sports café, the center feels more like a high-end hotel than a traditional campus hangout.
And according to school officials, the new attraction on campus has been a huge hit with students and staff thus far.
“A lot of thought went into this … into the vision of the building. We were constantly asking ‘How can we make it our own?’ I think we’ve hit a home run,” said Maryellen Colliton Kiley, dean of students at Curry, during a recent tour of the new student building.
Kiley explained that more than 40 students are employed in the many areas of the new college center, which was funded through a tax-exempt bond through MassDevelopment and from private donations and other sources.
The new building is part of an overall expansion mission by the college, which sits on 135 wooded acres on Blue Hill Avenue, to increase student enrollment. Over the past 10 years, Curry has grown from approximately 900 undergraduate students to 2,000; in May it graduated its largest class ever, handing out 754 diplomas. About 1,400 students currently reside on campus.
However, aside from its obvious benefits to those on campus, Kiley said the many amenities and events at the new student center are also giving those who commute reason to stick around outside the classroom. Already, 1,500 students and staffers are members of the new fitness center, and events such as sports-themed parties, karaoke dinners and game room tournaments at the facility are fast becoming campus traditions, she said.
“We were really curious to see how students would use the space. They’ve all found their own little areas they like,” said Kiley.
“I can picture myself as a student again wanting to hang out here,” said Fran Jackson, communications director for the school.
Leading the tour from one setting to the next, Jackson explained how each room was designed for multi-use purposes, so that a dining area can also serve as functioning meeting hall and the new 1,600-seat capacity gymnasium can be transformed into an impromptu movie theater with a dimming of the lights and the dropdown of a giant, $80,000 projection screen.
The new gym, with spacious varsity locker rooms that seem more in line with what Division 1 athletes might enjoy, recently played host to a health care forum by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch. Varsity men’s and women’s basketball will soon get to bounce the ball on the parquet for the first time. Even the school’s mascot, the Colonel, received a makeover for its appearance in the new facility.
“The gym is really my favorite,” said Buildings and Grounds Director Bob O’Connell, with a smile that belays his pride in the school where he has worked for over 30 years, times of immense change at Curry, which only 15 years ago was a college struggling to stay afloat financially.
O’Connell explained that construction on the facility started around March of last year. A photo gallery on the university’s Web site documents the slow but steady progress of months of building that turned the student center from concept to reality.
According to O’Connell, internal talks for a new facility began about six years ago, and serious design work started two years after that. Although every step of the process was carefully thought and conceived, he admits there was still some uncertainty about how the whole thing would turn out, even as the final bricks were being laid.
“You pick out the colors, you pick out the designs, but you never really know how it’s going to work out. I couldn’t imagine it working as well as it has. That’s what we hear from everyone who comes in here,” O’Connell said.
Kiley said she likes how “whatever door you enter, it feels like the main entrance,” adding, “It really has something for everybody.” she said.
Visit www.curry.edu for more information on the school and the new student center.