![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/magazine\/files\/2012\/06\/1968-Commons-040-G-0002.jpg\")
<\/a>A 1967 expansion of Memorial Commons in Chase Hall paved the way for coed dining. This summer, another Chase freshening will create new student spaces \u2014 plus the college\u2019s first pub. Photograph courtesy of the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.<\/p><\/div>\n
Interim President Nancy Cable never knew the glory days of Chase Hall, when its bustling Memorial Commons was a beehive of student social life.<\/p>\n
That mealtime scene moved to New Commons in 2008, and Chase Hall, while still housing such facilities as the Bobcat Den and the College Store, became a ghost of its former self.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Cable, though, Chase will once again feel the rattle and hum of abundant student energy. At her urging, donors have responded with gifts for refreshing the building to meet a number of student needs.<\/p>\n
The makeover, planned for completion by early winter, will result in a pub, as well as new headquarters and storage space for the venerable Bates Outing Club.<\/p>\n
Cable, who came to Bates as vice president of enrollment and external affairs and agreed to serve as president during the 2011-12 transition from Elaine Tuttle Hansen\u2019s presidency to Clayton Spencer\u2019s, has made the Chase overhaul a priority.<\/p>\n
The need is multifaceted, Cable explains, but at the heart of it is a simple and compelling reality. There\u2019s currently no really appropriate space for all manner of collaborative activities for faculty and students, she explains. \u201cAnd the entrance to Chase, so often the first place a visitor might see, needs to be more welcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a fast track, the project will be under way by the time President-elect Clayton Spencer moves into 204 Lane Hall, on July 1, Cable says.<\/p>\n
The largest part of the dining hall \u2014 known by Batesies as the \u201cBarn\u201d or \u201cBig Room\u201d \u2014 could become a swing space if funds allow, accommodating myriad uses, from performances to speeches, from dance and exercise classes to simply snacking and socializing.<\/p>\n
The Den will be expanded to include a pub \u2014 ending Bates\u2019 status as the only NESCAC school with no campus watering hole.<\/p>\n
Much of the makeover is about things like new lighting; wall, floor and window treatments; and furniture designed for easy reconfiguration of the space. However, some major work is needed to bring the area into compliance with building codes, including the installation of sprinklers and an elevator. And a few new doorways will be cut to help traffic flow, and old partitions removed to open up space.<\/p>\n
About 40 donors saw the need and supported the concept, \u201cmost of them parents, alumni and trustees who care deeply about Chase and care a lot about student and faculty life,\u201d says Cable. With planning and design work in train during the early spring, hammers are now swinging as of mid-June.<\/p>\n
Cable also hopes that the refit will allay concerns, stirred up during the campus master planning process of the prior decade, that Chase was a goner. \u201cChase Hall isn\u2019t going away \u2014 it\u2019s too beloved by too many alumni.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Campus Facts<\/h3>\n
Ice out on Lake Andrews was March 19, about a month ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
The smallest residence is Leadbetter House, capacity five students.<\/p>\n
Campus postmaster Vinny Vincent often poses trivia questions to students picking up packages.<\/p>\n
Most costly Bates meal: sole-stuffed poppers.<\/p>\n
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The Peter J. Gomes Chapel<\/h3>\n
On Oct. 25, Bates will celebrate the naming of the College Chapel as the Peter J. Gomes Chapel, in memory of Gomes \u201965, author, preacher and beloved son of Bates.<\/p>\n