Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 October 12, 2001 f

Financial situation precludes needed Curtis Pool renovation
GEORDIE MacLEOD
STAFF WRITER

Bowdoin currently has plans to build a 350 seat concert hall along with music practice rooms in the Curtis Pool building. At the moment, however, the school does not have sufficient funds to begin the renovation.

"It's one of the things that we've been trying to pin down for the last two years but we're just not there yet," said Vice President for Planning and Development William Torrey. Financial aid and faculty support are several areas that still have priority over the renovation.

The College currently lacks a space designed specifically for musical performance. Plans to put additional space for music in Pickard Theater fell through when there was only room for theater and dance. And when the Pickard renovations went $8 million over-budget, development was forced to shelve the plans for Curtis Pool.

"There's no question that it would greatly enhance our music department and the students who come here for music," said Mr. Torrey, adding, "The faculty desperately needs the additional space."

Alumni donations would provide the bulk of the $8 to $9 million, plus a $2 million increase to the endowment, needed for the renovations with foundation gifts a possibility. "We have some interested people but we're still not sure," said Torrey. "A specific type of person wants to help with something like this."

The Curtis Pool renovation comes at the tail end of $150 million worth of renovations over the last eight years. Aside from Pickard theater, since 1993 the school has, among other projects, built the Druckenmiller science building, renovated Searles and the Hawthorne-Longfellow library, and has built several dormitories.

Once the money is raised, it will take 18 to 24 months to complete the project. The architectural firm of William Rawn and Associates has designed some preliminary plans, which, according to Mr. Torrey, "the school is very pleased with." The firm has also designed the Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood.

The College's first swimming pool, Curtis Pool was built in 1927 and named for Cyrus Curtis who received an honorary degree from Bowdoin that same year. Mr. Curtis was a trustee from 1930 to 1933 and was publisher of the Saturday Evening Post. The Curtis library in Brunswick is also named for Mr. Curtis. Since the completion of Farley Field House in 1987, the building has remained empty, with the exception of a few offices.