Long-Awaited Swan Reconstruction Nears Full Funding

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Author: Soo Jin Kim

Plans to renovate Swan Hall, a project that has been in the works for over 20 years, seem to be moving forward, despite past delays and a lack of funding. The renovations will more than double the current square footage of the building and provide better, more uniform offices for faculty as well as spaces for faculty to work with students. The Swan Hall renovation is projected to begin in the next few years and to cost an estimated $17 million.

Initial planning for the renovations to Swan Hall is already underway. Faculty representatives from each department in the building have had several meetings with the architect Brian R. Bloom in order to incorporate faculty needs into the building design.

“The promise of a Swan [Hall] renovation has been made ever since I’ve been here – that’s 21 years,” English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) Professor Michael Near said. “Swan has always been on the list [of campus renovations] near the top, and in the meantime, we’ve gotten the renovation of Fowler, the building of Hameetman Science Center, the building of Rangeview Residence Hall, the renovations of dorms and of the Johnson Student Center and the renovation of the Cooler area.”

Until now, it seemed that other buildings in need of renovation took precedence over Swan Hall. “The Board of Trustees took a vote last year and said that Swan Hall is the most important construction project on campus,” said Director of Communications Jim Tranquada. “That’s our top priority when it comes to construction projects.”

According to Tranquada, the projected cost of the renovation is at $17 million, including the cost of providing faculty offices while the building is under construction. Currently, the project is about $2 million short of the needed funds. Of the current funds collected, about $12 million has come from bond proceeds and the other $3 million in gifts from individuals specifically designated for this project. The college is currently looking to several foundations to help raise the rest of the money needed for the renovation.

The current shortage of funding is the major source of project delays. “The Board of Trustees has a policy that you have to have all the money in hand before you build something,” said Tranquada. The school must receive the remaining $2 million before any construction can begin.

Despite these financial short-comings, definite progress has been made in moving the renovations forward. “It’s not clear to me as to when the project is going to occur, but I think we’re talking about a project that is going to happen in the next few years – it’s no longer a vague pie in the sky dream which we’ve had ten years ago,” said ECLS Professor John Swift.

Should the project go ahead, according to Tranquada, the ideal schedule for the renovation would be a year-long process. The building would go under construction at the end of the second semester around commencement, continue through the summer and into the next school year and finish up during that second summer, so that Swan Hall would be open the following fall semester.

During the renovation of Swan Hall, the professors’ offices will be placed temporarily in office trailers, possibly behind the fountain in the cul-de-sac. When Fowler was renovated in 2004, there were temporary trailers on the lawn adjacent to Booth and on part of the Booth parking lot for professors to use as offices.

When the Johnson Student Center was renovated in the early 1960s, a “Tiger Town” had been set up behind the fountain at the cul-de-sac, where the post office, dining services and other various offices previously in the Johnson Student Center were temporarily located.

The professors currently residing in Swan have mixed feelings about the project. Although they are looking forward to having Swan Hall reconstructed, they also have their concerns as to whether the new building will be able to facilitate all of their needs.

“There is potential both for great new spaces, and for things being left out,” said ECLS Professor Raul Villa. “Are [the renovations] going to satisfy what we need and what we’ve been asking for a long time, or are short cuts going to be taken and certain needs going to be unmet?”

Swan was built in 1914 as a men’s dormitory and was one of the original buildings on campus. When the dormitory was converted into an office building, there were no major renovations undertaken to better accommodate professors. In 1914, due to the heat of buildings in the California summers and a lack of air conditioning, the dorm had “sleeping porches.” These were rooms where students would put their beds when it was hot so they could sleep away from the heat of their rooms and get some fresh, Los Angeles air.

These sleeping porches and the regular dorm rooms were converted into faculty offices when the building was re-designated for academic use. This left discrepancies in the size of different spaces turned into offices.

In addition to oddly-sized offices, Swan hall lacks unity. Swan is currently divided into three sections – South, Middle and North. These wings have staggered floors and are only adjoining on the top and one of the basement floors.

These disconnected floors quarter approximately 42 regular faculty members and a dozen adjunct professors. The building is home to six academic departments. One-third of all Occidental’s faculty is working in the crowded, out-dated building.

The current renovation plans include the addition of a 17,000-square-foot wing behind the current building. This will provide a total of 30,000 square feet for faculty offices and additional lab and collaboration space.

Swan is also currently not handicap accessible. There are stairs connecting the different floors but no elevator. Adding to the inconvenience for handicapped students and faculty, the floor plan of Swan is complex with the three wings only connecting on certain floors. The building entrances are also all staircases.

The school is also looking to do some major seismic retrofitting to the building in these renovations.

According to Near, the faculty members are looking to include a common space where professors could meet with groups of students, spaces for faculty meetings and decent sized offices for all faculty members, as well as a little kitchenette where professors can make coffee or wash their dishes. “For the permanent faculty here, they need space to work – we’ve committed ourselves to the institution, we need to be given the facilities to do our job,” said Professor Near.

The Psychology department is hoping to have more labs built in the hall, according to Department Services Coordinator Nancy Grubb.

“Now, if you think about the sciences, the sciences always have spaces they can work with students ­- they’re called ‘laboratories,'” said Near. He pointed out that some scientists had their own personal laboratories and teaching laboratories. “I’m not talking about anything elaborate, but the kind of amenities that would make doing our job that much more efficient, particularly spaces where we can work with students . . . We don’t want a big Foucault Pendulum in Swan . . . we’re not asking for anything special or spectacular, we’re just asking for basic functionality – we just want to be able to do our jobs.”

Additional reporting by Martha Carol.

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