A plea for Baxter Hall

By Dagmar E. BubriskiPrint Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN — Sadly, it appears that the untimely demise of the handsome and much beloved Baxter Student Union at Williams College is very close. It was only kept open to accommodate the graduating and reunion classes and was closed for good in mid-June. Since that time it has been being prepared for total demolition. After close to 50 years of constant use by the college, as well as visitors and local people, it seems to have worn out its welcome at the college and will be replaced by a new stark factory-style building, which seems to be the Williams choice these days. Our planning and zoning boards have very little sway on these monumental changes in our town’s landscape in the center of our town, and, lacking any formal design commission to consider these architectural nightmares, we become the serfs in a feudal system where the reigning power lies with the college, and the power of their millions changes our town as we must helplessly watch. When we arrived in Williamstown in early 1952, we were charmed by what we saw on this campus. The space now occupied by Baxter was a lovely tennis court, to which we enjoyed walking and playing tennis in the evenings. In the mid ’50s, it became a building site, and Baxter emerged with its very popular snack bar, open to local residents and children, as well as the students, with its lovely large windows overlooking the handsome Congregational Church. It was the first major building built on the campus after World War II, and was also the last fine one. Great care had been taken by the architect to blend the shape and the decorative elements of the building with the surrounding architecture: Chapin Hall, the freshmen quad, the Sigma Phi house (which later became the Van Rensselaer House when fraternities were banished), and the Congregational Church, as well as the president’s house on top of the hill. It must be noted here that the Van Rensselaer house was torn down and discarded in the early ’70s to be succeeded by the Sawyer Library, which is now also to be torn down soon and discarded. It is indeed sad to realize that the Sigma Phi house began life as a wing of the great Van Rensselaer estate on the Hudson River long ago and was brought over the mountains stone by stone in 1898 by Sigma Phi for its use on this campus. It was also in that era that the Great Hall of that estate was sent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is still an integral part of the famed American Wing. As for Baxter, it opened in about 1956, with the major dining room upstairs and a handsome reception room downstairs with a piano and good furniture, portraits of college presidents and campus scenes. It was used constantly for meetings, lectures, concerts and a variety of gatherings. The Buck Rogers-style mailroom was a very recent disaster in the last 10 years. At that same time, the present “bus waiting room” on the other end of the building appeared, and the very popular and comfortable student lounge area, with its big leather easy chairs and sofas and other comfortable furniture was discarded. To me, it makes no sense at all to destroy this fine building, when a third floor could be added, as well as extending the building out toward Park Street. Food Service could be moved out, there would be plenty of space, and the interior spaces could be totally redesigned for however it makes sense for today’s uses. It seems utterly ridiculous and wasteful to spend many millions of dollars to tear down a perfectly fine building that was created to enhance the appearance of the Chapin Hall area and to build another factory-style edifice that has no place whatsoever in that milieu. The die has been cast, however, and it is now time for some serious constructive thinking. And into the breech has jumped our thoughtful town manager, Peter Fohlin. Several months ago, he conceived of an ingenious plan that would save a large handsome portion of the southern end of Baxter, have it moved to be attached to the southern part of our handsome Town Hall and provide much needed space for our Police Department and other offices. It is a wonderful imaginative idea, and it would certainly add lustre as well as needed space for our town departments. The problem, of course, is money. It would probably take a million dollars for the move and reconfiguration. But it is also possible to have all the architectural elements saved and to store them in our town garage for a better economic time. This might be done for a lesser amount, like $25,000. This would include saving the columns, the windows, the doors and doorways, the widow’s walk railings on the roof, perhaps the lighting fixtures, both inside and outside, and other movable details that would drastically cut the expense of the replacement. And so we will eagerly await the final decision to make this very practical dream come to pass, to preserve a bit of local history and fine architecture, to enhance our Town Hall with more needed spaces and to extend its elegant appearance. Dagmar E. Bubriski contributes articles to The Advocate from time to time and is a long-standing critic of modern architecture at Williams.
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Senior Golf Series Returns in September

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire County Fall Senior Golf series returns in September with events on five consecutive Wednesdays starting Sept. 18.
 
It is the 22nd year of the series, which is a fund-raiser for junior golf in the county, and it is open to players aged 50 and up.
 
The series will feature two divisions for each event based on the combined ages of the playing partners.
 
Golfers play from the white tees (or equivalent) with participants 70 and over or who have a handicap of more than 9 able to play from the forward tees.
 
Gross and net prices will be available in each division.
 
The cost is $55 per event and includes a round of golf, food and prizes. Carts are available for an additional fee.
 
Golfers should call the pro shop at the course for that week's event no sooner than two weeks before the event to register.
 
View Full Story

More Stories

Sports
image description

Big Second Half Lifts Hoosac Girls to Another State Title

Sports
Sports
image description

The Hunt for Red March: Hoosac Valley Girls, Boys Go for State...

Sports
Sports
image description

Kotek, Dupuis Win Individual State Titles

Sports
Sports
image description

Lee Bowlers Win State Championship

Sports
Sports
image description

McGovern Scores 1,000th as Hurricanes Advance

Sports
Sports
image description

Pittsfield's Mullen Takes Two Titles at State Alpine Meet

Sports
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?