Staff Editorial | ACDC renovation risks delays, inconveniences students

With the College’s announcement last week that Campus Dining would remain in Aramark’s hands came the surprising news that there are also plans to renovate the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) to accommodate the new pay-per-meal plan.

The College released idyllic sketches of possible changes to the interior of the building, but offered few specifics about how or when ACDC’s transformation would take place. The promise of sweeping interior renovations gives The Miscellany News pause because the College is already overloaded with construction projects. Excessive delays on past construction, such as the Quad-side steps, leaves one skeptical as to whether ACDC’s renovations will be completed and ready for student use by the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

Construction projects during Summer 2008 are popping up like weeds. With the Maria Mitchell Observatory renovation underway, Davison House set to close, and eight delayed Town Houses still in the works, is this really the right time to renovate the dining hall? The College should take notice of the severe delays that plague nearly every construction project that it has undertaken and should make contingency plans with the expectation that delays on the ACDC renovations are likely to occur.

This is especially important because Vassar’s only dining hall is a heavily-trafficked and integral part of campus.

Although the Town of Poughkeepsie lifted its moratorium on building to allow the College to build overflow housing in the Town Houses (THs), the process of acquiring permits has slowed the College’s ostensibly speedy plans for renovations and construction. Nearly semester-long delays for projects as simple as the Quad-side steps of Strong, Lathrop, Davison, and Raymond Houses were an inconvenience, and such long delays for minor projects make students uneasy about the prospect of a much larger renovation to a much more essential building.

Administrators seem convinced that the project will be completed as planned. Vice President for Finance and Administration Betsy Eismeier said in an e-mailed statement, “There was always a plan to work on changes to ACDC in phases. We don’t have architectural drawings from Aramark for the limited amount they’d like to do this summer…Other work will proceed during breaks or next summer.” Director of Campus Dining Maureen King, employed by Aramark, added, “ACDC will definitely be open in the fall.”

Even with a graduated plan, however, the College should consider the fact that construction and renovation is going to be disruptive. Aside from unavoidable noise, sections of buildings and paths will be blocked off by construction and will affect students’ use of these facilities.

The list keeps growing: the Art Library, Davison, the THs, Prentiss Field, Raymond Avenue, the Old Observatory and ACDC will all be undergoing a phase of construction at the same time. The student body at Vassar is ever-growing, and a crowded ACDC will become more stifling if students do not have space to sit due to construction.

With these projects, the College is clearly making an investment in the future. But as the Class of 2012 sends their letters and deposits, the College should not put the needs of its future students ahead of its current students. Sacrificing the experience of the incoming freshman class, returning sophomores or juniors, or the outgoing senior class would harm Vassar’s reputation as an institution that values meeting student needs. If the College reneges on that commitment, its investment could come to naught.

—The staff editorial reflects the opinion of at least two-thirds of the 16-member editorial board.