{"id":154528,"date":"2023-06-08T08:26:57","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T12:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=154528"},"modified":"2023-08-01T09:35:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T13:35:25","slug":"next-week-campus-construction-update-june-16-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/08\/next-week-campus-construction-update-june-16-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Construction Update: June 16, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two high-profile summer projects got underway at Bates this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new playing surface will be installed on Garcelon Field, replacing the FieldTurf whose arrival<\/a> we told you about in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And improvements to Hathorn Hall\u2019s third floor and attic will provide easier access to that building\u2019s belfry, making possible, in turn, the return of Hathorn\u2019s beloved bell to something like its old prominence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the work we covered last week<\/a>, the ongoing renovation of Chase Hall and the creation of an immersive media studio in Coram Library, the Garcelon and Hathorn projects involve campus landmarks whose long histories resound in Bates lore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Hathorn Hall bell, shown in an undated photo. At left, note the cable on the wheel that\u2019s attached to the bell. Originally, hand-pulled ropes caused the bell to ring by turning the wheel. Several decades ago, the present cable and winch system replaced ropes and student ringers. The inscription credits the bell maker, Boston\u2019s renowned Henry N. Hooper Co., and Jonathan Davis, whose $500 gift paid for the bell. (Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Toll house<\/strong>: Rung by hand some 19 times a day when it was new, in 1857, the Hathorn Hall bell<\/a> has been heard from less and less in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well into the 20th century, the 1,000-pound bell was a unifying voice on campus in ways both pragmatic and moral. The bell marked the hours of the day, summoned students to meals and chapel, and celebrated climactic moments athletic and academic, notably Commencement. Even into this century, Hathorn\u2019s \u201cclong\u201d resounded at class times and the noon hour. (Until the mid-20th century, the bell was rung by students carefully selected for their reliability \u2014 not to mention their tolerance for a spartan living situation, as they resided in a room in Hathorn under less than cozy conditions.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, though, the bell has been rung only for Commencement and Convocation. That\u2019s because the bell\u2019s own stock in trade \u2014 time itself \u2014 has caught up with both the bell and its structural surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shown
Shown are Hathorn and Parker halls in 1875, not even 20 years after the buildings were constructed. What we now call the Historic Quad has a more minimalist appeal in this photo. Note the louvers enclosing Hathorn\u2019s bell tower and the absence of the now-familiar clock on the front porch. (Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The electric ringing mechanism has become unreliable and potentially hazardous. Getting into Hathorn\u2019s attic and thence the belfry, currently via a stepladder from the third floor, takes nerve and some muscle. The attic itself is dark, grimy, and confusing \u2014 a thicket of 166-year-old beams and joists \u2014 and visitors must closely watch where they put their feet. (Note to self: submit bill for shoe lost in attic.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A primary objective of this summer\u2019s project is to dramatically improve not only access to the attic, via a new retractable stairway, but lighting and walkways. Also in the cards is a replacement for the ladder up to the belfry (where yet a third ladder and trapdoor provide access to the bell itself). All of that work will pave the way for replacement of the ringing mechanism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attic project also entails the removal of four old HVAC machines and the installation of a single state-of-the-art unit that will serve the third floor, says Brian Lanoie, Bates project manager for aspects of the work not directly related to the bell.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The ladder at lower right leads to the Hathorn Hall belfry, at center. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The present ringing system uses an electric winch to pull a cable that\u2019s looped around the bell wheel, rocking the bell and causing the free-swinging clapper to strike the interior. (It\u2019s not clear when the winch system was installed, though a 1956 issue of The Bates Student<\/em> contains a possible allusion to that development.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally the system is controlled by a timer, found elsewhere in Hathorn, that\u2019s programmed to ring at specified dates and times. A manual override is used for special occasions such as Commencement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it has still been rung for special events, \u201cthe bell has not been routinely active for a couple years now\u201d because of the need for upgrading \u201cto a more contemporary and safer set-up,\u201d says Alan Kelley, mechanical services manager for Facility Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hathorn
Hathorn Hall\u2019s attic. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the cable-and-winch mechanism poses a risk of dislodging the bell from its mounting. \u201cIt\u2019s a rare event, but out of an abundance of caution, we chose to shut it down for routine operation until it can be modified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the new mechanism, the bell itself will sit still and an electronically activated clapper will strike its sides. Interestingly, this marks a change in the basic technology of the Hathorn bell: No longer will rope, student muscle, cable, nor a winch be needed to evoke that familiar sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the attic is renovated and we have safe access, the bell controls will be retrofitted and put back in regular service,\u201d Kelley says. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"This
This defunct air handler in the attic of Hathorn Hall will be replaced during the summer of 2023. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A Portland company, MW Hoss, will install the new attic ladder and plywood flooring. Also on the job are two local firms, DeBlois Electric of Lewiston and Nason Mechanical Systems of Auburn. This week\u2018s work began with a day of site mobilization, says Brian Lanoie, and by the end of the week there should be a hole in the third-story ceiling to accommodate the removal of old HVAC equipment, and ultimately the installation of new access stairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turf\u2019s up<\/strong>: Regarded as one of the 10 oldest college football fields in the U.S., Garcelon Field will renew its claim to modernity this summer with the replacement of its 13-year-old playing surface. (A marker at Garcelon, by the way, notes that Bates was the site of the first college football game in Maine. But the game itself, against Tufts, took place across campus where the Gillespie Hall dorm now stands.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
\"Theophil

Handily enough, the formal portrait of the Class of 2023 shows off the 13-year-old FieldTurf that\u2019s now being replaced. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"A

A football game on the living (if somewhat stressed) grass on Garcelon Field sometime in the 1920s. (Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"Four

This image of Jamie Walker \u201907 of Needham, Mass., moving a pile of Colby defenders, was taken during a game in October 2006. That was four years before the advent of artificial turf on Garcelon Field, and the advantages of the manufactured product are clear. The photo later appeared in Sports Illustrated. (Daryn Slover for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
\"In

In this 2010 image, workers prepare to flip another strip of FieldTurf, at left, into place. (Gabrielle Otto ’11 for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

R.A.D. Sports, the Massachusetts company that installed the current FieldTurf surface in 2010, submitted the winning bid to overhaul the field again. The black chain-link fence surrounding the field will also be replaced. The work will likely be complete by early August, says Director of Capital Planning and Construction Chris Streifel, who is managing the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new surface will be a Shaw Sports Turf product called Legion. Like the 2010 FieldTurf, Legion will consist of a grass-like plastic matrix buffered with a mix of sand and crumb rubber particles. Such products resemble natural grass in their playing qualities, but are much easier to maintain and more durable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After getting established at the site, removing the old turf, naturally, is R.A.D.\u2019s first order of business. Streifel notes that where the 2010 turf installation (which, by the way, was the first use of an artificial surface on that field) necessitated substantial underground drainage work, this summer\u2019s effort is much simpler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the existing turf is removed, the contractor will do some very fine grading to restore the precise slopes needed,\u201d says Streifel. And then the new surface will go down. Streifel adds that the graphics on the new turf will be updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what will happen to the old turf? \u201cWe may retain some of it for use in the storage areas beneath the grandstand,\u201d Streifel says, and in any case, it will all be recycled or reused in some way. \u201cOnce it leaves the site, we don\u2019t directly control that process. I don\u2019t know the details yet,\u201d but they will become clear in the fullness of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we talk<\/strong>? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, and inflammatory speculation about construction at Bates College to dhubley@bates.edu<\/em><\/a>, with \u201cCampus Construction\u201d or \u201cHas anyone made the bats-in-the-belfry joke yet?\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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