Building a better TCNJ
The College unveiled its Academic/ Administrative and Housing Facilities Master Plans last semester, outlining major changes that will take place to the campus’s physical structure over the next 15 years
Art and IMM Building
The College unveiled its Academic/ Administrative and Housing Facilities Master Plans last semester, outlining major changes that will take place to the campus’s physical structure over the next 15 years.
The plans are the result of two years of research and discussions by two separate committees made up of students, staff, and faculty. Each committee relied on outside expertise from ikon.5 Architects (for the housing plan) and the architectural firm Einhorn Yaffee Prescott (for the academic/ administrative plan) during the process.
The initial reaction of students, staff, and faculty to the two plans was mixed. During the campus forums announcing the plans, many in attendance voiced concerns that not enough open recreational space would be left on campus, that updates or expansion of the athletics facilities and the Brower Student Center were not included, and that the removal of the lecture halls in Forcina was to occur several years before adequate replacement spaces would be available.
Lynda Kane Rothermel, campus architect and director of campus planning, said that her office, which presented the plans to campus, heard those concerns loud and clear and that the comments “will have an impact on the plan.” She said that the Student Center and athletics/ recreation area needs are under discussion by the Division of Student Affairs, and campus planning will use that feedback to revise the master plans as needed.
In addition, Rothermel said her office, in conjunction with the provost’s office, is reviewing the actual demand for large lecture halls on campus and would adjust the plans accordingly depending on the types and sizes of spaces needed.
The planned construction and renovations will be paid for with college and state bonds, capital reserves, and, potentially, money raised from a capital campaign.
Master plans are designed to be flexible and, for the most part, should be considered works in progress. Individual projects can change over the course of time depending on the College’s actual needs in the future, as well as budgetary considerations that might arise. With that in mind, here is a look at the projects as envisioned in the current version of the plan.
In December, ground will be broken for two new student apartment buildings, which will house 400 students. The buildings, designed by Fletcher Thompson, will replace the former apartment buildings that were started in 2003 but razed earlier this year due to serious deficiencies.
The new student apartments will feature five-person suites, with three single bedrooms and one double bedroom. Each suite will have a communal living space and a kitchen. Each building will provide a laundry/lounge, a large multipurpose room, a graduate apartment, and a professional apartment. The buildings are scheduled to open their doors to upperclassmen in fall 2009 and will be located along Metzger Drive across from Lions’ Stadium and the Soccer Complex.
A new Sophomore-Year Experience Residence Hall will be constructed on the hill between Decker Hall and New Residence Hall in 2012. That building will house 310 second-year students and provide them with accommodations that are a “step up” from their first-year residence halls.
Norsworthy Hall is scheduled for demolition in 2014, while Centennial Hall will be demolished in 2017. Over the course of the master plan, Decker, Travers/Wolfe, Cromwell, and Ely-Allen-Brewster will be renovated to keep the facilities up to date.
The housing plan identifies the following locations as sites for possible future construction beyond the year 2021: what will then be the former location of Norsworthy Hall, the outdoor tennis courts next to the Student Recreation Center, and an area along Metzger Drive next to the two student apartment buildings.
The Housing Facilities Master Plan will add 262 total beds to campus if completed as written.
On the academic/administrative side, construction will begin on a new Art and Interactive Multimedia Building in April 2008, which will house departments from the School of the Arts and Communication. The three-story building, designed by Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, will feature studios and classrooms, computer laboratories, a recording studio, and faculty offices. It will be located directly across from the Music Building on what is now a parking lot. The demolished parking spaces have already been replaced in Metzger Garage.
The one-story wing in the back of Forcina Hall will be demolished in 2008 to make room for an education building, which will be completed in 2011. The four-story section of Forcina will be used as swing space for administrative offices while other buildings are being completed and/or renovated; it will then be razed in 2021.
Holman Hall will be demolished in 2013 to make room for a new academic building, which is scheduled to be completed by 2015. The new building will house the computer science department, as well as multiuse instructional laboratories and multi-use event space.
A new nursing building will be completed in 2019. It will be located next to Forcina Parking Garage, on what is now the circle in front of Centennial Hall (which, by that time, is scheduled to have been demolished).
The 1968 wing of the former Roscoe L. West Library will be used as swing space for various offices until it is demolished in 2013, leaving only the original 1934 wing of the old library building. That section, one of the original campus buildings, will continue to stand. The plan calls for it to be renovated and eventually house the admissions office, development and alumni affairs office, and the College Art Gallery.
Renovations and asset renewals are also planned for Paul Loser Hall, Green Hall, and Kendall Hall over the next 15 years. The plan calls for executive administrative offices to move into Paul Loser Hall in 2020, allowing Green Hall to become a “one-stop shop” for student services offices.
The Academic/Administrative Facilities Master Plan indicates that the land of what will then be the former Forcina Hall tower and the former Centennial Hall could be used as possible construction sites after 2021.
A footprint map of TCNJ’s campus as it would look in early 2021
if all projects in the master plans are completed.
The master plans will be revised based on the information related to Student Affairs programming and through discussions with the planning committees. The final plans will then be made available to the public.
Posted on March 26, 2008
