NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The outdated lockers are painted over, large air conditioners are in the windows, and professors are still using chalkboards and projectors in the classrooms.

 

The last significant work on Mark Hopkins was done in the 1980s, and its last "sprucing up" was years ago. 

 

"The building has great bones," President Jamie Birge told Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, as they stood in a third-floor classroom on Friday afternoon. "The envelope needs to be worked on, sure, but it's stable, so it's usable — but it just isn't usable in this form."

 

The "new" Mark Hopkins School opened in 1940 on Church Street and later became a campus school for what was then North Adams State Teachers College. There haven't been children in the building in years: it's been used for office space and for classrooms since about 1990. 

 

"I live in this building. Yeah, I teach the history of American education," said education professor Maggie Clark, joining officials as they laughed that the classroom was historical. 

 

"Projecting forward, we're talking about assistive technology, working with students with disabilities to have this facility as our emblem for what our foundation is, is a challenge."

 

Board of Trustees Chair Buffy Lord said the classroom hadn't changed since she attended classes there in the 1990s.