Conflict over College Street property may result in legal action

News in brief: Colby's solar installation to be the largest in Maine

Bowdoin will no longer have the largest solar project in Maine. In the coming year, Colby College will install 5,505 solar panels, exceeding Bowdoin’s 4,420. While Bowdoin’s solar panels provide about eight percent of the College’s electricity (with a capacity of 1.2 megawatts), Colby’s panels will produce 16 percent of the college’s energy, at 1.9 megawatts. Led by NRG Energy Inc., work will begin on the solar panels now with the estimated completion date at January 2017. In 2015, Colby was ranked the highest NESCAC college for sustainability and second in North America, compared to the 260 colleges that participated in STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System), a system that assesses college sustainability efforts.

News in brief: College renovates multiple buildings over the summer

Numerous campus building underwent renovation over the summer, with some of the most dramatic changes occurring in Baxter House, Coles Tower, David Saul Smith Union and Hawthorne-Longfellow Library.
At Baxter House, the College opted to remove a wall on the first floor, creating a common space complete with a new television set and furniture in a space that had previously been a private living room.
House members expressed excitement at the change.
“We can definitely do more here,” said Sam Roy ’19, Baxter House’s communications director. “We can do more daytime events like lectures, maybe a capella groups here, so we’re really excited to have this open space.”
The Baxter House basement also received upgrades, including the installation of colored lights and a new ventilation system.
Coles Tower, which has been partially renovated over the past two summers, also saw major changes. This summer, student living spaces on the ninth through 12th floors of the Tower were upgraded. The second floor of the Tower was also converted into a living space after Information Technology (IT), which previously occupied the space, moved to the basement.
In Smith Union, students noticed that the former sitting area on the first floor behind the Information Desk no longer exists; the area has been replaced with office space for Director of the David Saul Smith Union Allen DeLong. While the Union is a 24-hour study space, a Bowdoin ID is now required between midnight and 6 a.m.
The Hawthorne-Longfellow Library also saw several changes. Shelves were removed from the first floor of the library to create more open space where students can study. The Media Commons in the library basement was also renovated to increase student study space.

News in brief

Conflict over College Street property may result in legal action

May 6, 2016

In a case that could be brought to court, Bowdoin seems to be pushing back against the $1.6 million dollar asking price for 28 College Street, the last remaining non-campus property on College Street. Bowdoin has denied that the property is the place where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” despite the owner’s claims. According to an article in the Bangor Daily News, Arline Pennell Lay, the owner of the property, was notified by her attorney last week that the College plans to file a lawsuit to make Lay adhere to a 1996 agreement with the College. The agreement states that the College can buy the property at 125 percent of its appraised value if the owner dies or puts it on the market; with the appraised price at $154,300, the College should only pay $192,875 for the house. However, Lay and her attorney, Sean Joyce, claim that an attorney was not present at the time of this agreement; Bowdoin’s attorney claims otherwise, according to Joyce. The College has said that it will leave the issue up to its lawyers.
“We’re investigating whether or not [Lay] had representation and [whether] it was, essentially, unequal bargaining,” Joyce told the Bangor Daily News.

The high asking price of the house is attributed to Lay and her family’s claim that Stowe rented a room on the second floor between 1850 and 1851 where she wrote much of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” However, the College has pushed back against this claim over the years with evidence that Stowe wrote the novel at 63 Federal Street, her home from 1851 to 1852, and Appleton Hall, where her husband had a study.

The property is listed on the National Register of Historic places. However, according to Joyce, the College attributes this to the property’s other historical significance. According to the Lay family, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned a poem, “The Old Clock on the Stairs,” about a grandfather clock in the house. Norman Rockwell also apparently modeled his painting, “Freedom from Want,” after members of Lay’s family, Alice Lay and Richard Coffin. The real estate listing states that, “Other famous people such as President and Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Chris Wallace and William Cohen have stayed at this home.”

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