MCLA Officials, Guests Open Renovated Bowman Hall
 Alexandra Kadell, center, the SGA president, gets ready to cut the ribbon on the new Bowman Hall. DCAMM Deputy Commissioner Carol Gladstone and Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance Sean Nelson are at left. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The newly renovated Bowman Hall at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is getting plenty of positive feedback as it reopens after two years of reconstruction.
"The facilities are incredible," said Melanie Mowinski, an art professor at MCLA, at Thursday's ribbon cutting on the $15 million project. "I was frankly giddy when I walked into this building, I am so excited to be in this space."
The 1970 concrete structure lining the west side of the campus quad has been reconfigured, updated and technologically advanced to be on par with the brand-new Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation across the campus.
Students, guests, faculty, alumni and officials packed into the new lobby area (that once had a hole looking down into the first floor) on Thursday afternoon to celebrate the completion of the transformation.
While the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker wasn't there at the outset of the project, Carol Gladstone, new deputy commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, said the building exactly aligns with Baker's policies.
"We all love this project," said Gladstone, formerly vice chairman of the Massachusetts State College Building Authority. "It's an old saw but the greenest building is often the one that you already have ... and in the Baker-Polito administration and for me, at least, and DCAMM, our first commitment is fixing what we have. ...
"We're very committed to a fix-it first strategy."
The new Bowman has fewer classrooms — 14, down from 24 — but offers more space for student and faculty collaboration, math and computer science labs, administrative offices, and an expansive suite of studios for art design, printmaking, mixed media and sculpture.
"I think we now have a project and a place that matches the educational expectations that our students have here," said James C. Clemmer, interim president. "This is a really great place to get educated. ... It matches what our faculty and staff does within these walls which is second to none."
Mowinski's Press Gallery will return to the third floor of Bowman after its stint on Main Street. She was pleased at how much the designers and administrators took into account the input from faculty in creating these new spaces.
"The joy of working in this space," she said. "That is designed to cultivate not only academic learning but informal interaction ... the kinds of exchanges that foster community, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst students and faculty across the disciplines."
Board of Trustees Chairman Tyler Fairbank noted that the opening of Bowman was a culmination of some $90 million in investments since 2007 in the college by the state and the MCLA Foundation that included the $54 million science center.
"Both the Feigenbaum Center and Bowman were top priorities in MCLA's 2007 master plan, a plan supported by our state legislators," he said. "We're proud of this investment and the campus and this community and the opportunities that we create for students our faculty and our staff."
The funding for the both buildings came from the 2008 higher education bond, "a little bit of an embarrassment of riches" joked Department of Higher Education's Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance Sean Nelson, who credited the Berkshire delegation's efforts.
Also thanked amid the many partners on the project was former state Rep. Daniel Bosley, who was in attendance. State Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, also pointed to the project's overseer, MCLA Vice President of Administration and Finance James Stakenas, who is retiring at the end of the month.
"What a way to end a career to bring such as a wonderful project to a conclusion and congratulations for getting it all done before you leave," she said.
State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, compared the funding to a "tidal wave" to make up for the drips that had gone on for so long.
"We also know this is only one side of the ledger ... that we need to do a similar amount of investing in the faculty, staff and students on this campus," he said.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said the ongoing construction had been as much an economic booster as a symbol of the state's and the college's commitment to education.
"With all of this work, hundreds of jobs have been provided and preserved, and the economic return on this investment has benefited our community immensely," he said. "Just this job alone provided work for nine Berkshire County contractors and employers. ...
"The development of this building is very symbolic of an MCLA that is on the cutting edge but is also without a doubt a major factor in why the city of North Adams and this greater region continue to see a surge of capital investment."
But for the students at MCLA, it's more a thrilling change to a new learning environment, and new educational resources, said senior Alexandra Kadell, president of the Student Government Association.
"It signifies much more for students," Kadell said. "The reopening has largely become a place that inspires, motivates, encourages, and challenges students here at MCLA."
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