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College Employees Value Campus Environment, 'Chronicle' Survey Finds
When a Chronicle survey asked college employees what they value about their jobs, they put the physical environment in which they work at the top of the list. (Chronicle photograph of Washington & Lee U.)
Rise in Tornadoes, Floods Poses Risk to Colleges
What if the sort of extreme weather that has left the University of Iowa inundated in floodwaters is not a freak event? What if it is a sign of things to come? (Photograph by AP Images)
Art & Architecture Renovations Near Completion at Yale U.
Paul Rudolph's 1963 Brutalist icon is getting a makeover, plus an addition by Charles Gwathmey.
Guest Blogger: Marc Mayerson
Like swashbuckling movie heroes, facilities planners take on herculean tasks.
Other News
Campus Planners Discuss Challenges in Attaining Sustainability
Analyzing How Students Choose Colleges Is Key Topic at Meeting of Planners
Specialized Developers Helping More Colleges to Meet Housing Needs
New campus buildings
Multimedia
A Green Building as a Billboard for Science
(A 2006 Chronicle video)
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About Buildings & Grounds
Buildings & Grounds is written by Scott Carlson (left) and Lawrence Biemiller (right). Scott Carlson writes about architecture, facilties, energy, and sustainability, among other topics. Lawrence Biemiller writes about architecture and facilities and contributes to Notes from Academe. What's happening on your campus? Let us know.
Vassar's Historic Observatory Gets a $3.9-Million Makeover
Students posed with telescopes for this early photo of Vassar College’s observatory. (Images courtesy of R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects)
Vassar College’s historic observatory, constructed in 1864 for the first female astronomy professor in the United States, is in the midst of a $3.9-million renovation that will create offices and classrooms for the college’s education department. R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects planned the project.
The observatory, constructed of brick and adorned with pilasters, was designed to house not only the college’s 12-inch telescope but also the astronomy professor, Maria Mitchell, and her father. The observatory is located behind Vassar’s landmark Main Building, designed by James Renwick Jr. and completed in 1865.
According to a college news release, the renovation will convert the dome room into a multipurpose seminar space and will also make the building accessible for the first time to people who have difficulty with stairs. It will house 11 offices, including one for the college’s longtime historian, Elizabeth Daniels.
The plan for the lower level
The plan for the upper level
A section through the observatory
The telescope was removed in 1997.
Comments
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One of the more historic facts about the Vasser Observatory is that it is the only observatory in the United States to not have a urinal.
— marci Jan 30, 05:10 PM #
The things you learn on this site!
— Scott Carlson Jan 30, 06:37 PM #