Glow in the Snow: The season's first snow reflects the light from LED strips set into Alumni Walk benches. Below: Alumni Walk in the snow; a worker at Commons' east entrance; the ventilation monitor; a view from the Commons mezzanine; the fireplace lounge with Pettengill in the distance; Commons' west entrance, complete with plywood; at bottom, the tent will help the concrete base for a granite installation to cure.

If the schedule holds, in about 10 weeks Dining Services will serve the first meals in the new Commons.

"It's going to be a fabulous facility," Dining Services director Christine Schwartz told Campus Construction Update during a conversation about the transition from old to new. Her office, just inside from the loading dock at the old Memorial Commons, was a jumble of cardboard boxes packed, stacked and labeled for the move.

"I can't tell you what an experience it is to have something start on paper" — she waved a hand at a tall carton bulging with rolled-up building plans — "see the outline of it in the foundation, and then see the walls go up, and then the equipment goes in.

"To see it actually come to life and start to breathe is a once-in-a lifetime experience."

While some moving could begin as early as Dec. 26, Dining Services expects to take possession of the facility in late January, with training slated for two or three weeks thereafter.

The bulk of the move comes next, from Feb. 15 through 17, the beginning of Bates' winter recess. Once the health inspector has looked things over, Schwartz anticipates that by Feb. 20 or so the facility will be ready to dish up. It will be a "soft opening," with most students and many staff and faculty away.

"We'll be inviting people as we — as I like to say — burn and learn," she said. "So it'll give us time to amp up and give everybody some level of comfort before we go to the full board plan."

Show time is slated for the evening of Sunday, Feb. 24, as students return from break and take their first board plan meal in the new Commons.

How much stuff will Dining Services bring from Memorial Commons to the new one? A lot. Tables and chairs are now being refurbished for use in the new dining hall. Tableware, flatware and serving pieces, all the catering equipment and a lot of office furniture will also go over.

With one major exception, however, the current kitchen equipment has outlived its usefulness to Bates. The equipment is still serviceable, Schwartz noted, just not at the high level of production needed in the new facility. She's seeking new homes for the old appliances.

The one item in the culinary arsenal that will go to the new facility is the 2-year-old dishwashing machine. To transfer it, Bates will have to remove an interior wall and a window to the outdoors, lower the machine from the second floor of old Commons by crane, haul it to the new building and wall it in at its new location. The move will take about a day, plus disconnecting and reconnecting.

For Schwartz and her staff, the single biggest issue in the transition is training. That's partly because of new technology. But also, Schwartz noted, coming with the new space is "a whole different approach to what we're doing."

In the present Commons, a large proportion of the staff is tasked with serving food that has been prepared behind the scenes. In the new Commons, most cooking will be done to order, in view of the diners. Because of that shift, Schwartz explained, "we've had to change the profile of our dining staff, so we have more production people than service people."

Restructuring the organization has been effected through attrition and retraining during the past 18 months, she said. "I actually sat down with every employee and asked, 'What is it you want to be doing?' So they got, for the most part, to pick what they wanted to do, and I'd say 99 times out of 100 it was a good fit."

For instance, several people on the service side wanted to move into production. "They're really, really excited about this, because not only do they get to keep the interaction with students, but then they get to do something with food. It's been a great growth experience for the staff."

Schwartz emphasized that her staff numbers will not increase, with the payroll remaining steady at 96 benefited employees and 50 or so on-call workers.

In the next edition of Campus Construction Update, Schwartz reveals her favorite new pieces of kitchen gear and explains what the new Commons experience will be like for diners. Watch for it the week of Jan. 7, 2008.

Meanwhile, on the construction front, project manager Paul Farnsworth reported that during the week of Dec. 10 the long-awaited skylight was installed in the ventilation monitor — that big box on the Commons roof. In the coming days, the monitor will be sheathed in purely cosmetic louvers. The scaffolding that's been up there for months will finally disappear and the last of the roofing slate will be laid.

Inside the building, a couple of steps that we reported on previously are nearly complete. The room where the Commons' computer equipment will live has been finished, so that gear will soon be installed and the building hooked into the campus computer net.

In the kitchen and servery areas, the ceiling grid has been hung, a procession of inspectors have made their inspections, and the ceiling tiles are about to go in. In that same part of the facility, Farnsworth added, "our first batch of countertops showed up on Dec. 8," with another shipment due by the 14th.

In the dining area, the ceiling made of recycled wood slats has been punch-listed — that is, inspected for defects — the overhead lights are all in place, and gray zinc trim is being installed around the windows.

Speaking of zinc, we asked about the green membrane underlying the zinc that's being applied around the west entrance. Because wood and zinc expand and contract at different rates, that isolating barrier keeps them from damaging each other when the temperature changes, Farnsworth explained.

And when will the ugly plywood doors go away and the proper exterior doors be hung? Pretty soon, Farnsworth said. "We're holding off with those doors because that's the way we're taking out the larger lifts" — the scissor lifts that allow workers to reach high ceilings and walls.

General contractor Consigli Construction "has put out an edict for the next couple of weeks — 'You've got to get your work done, because we're going to be closing up the front door and the lifts have to go.' "

Readers write: Monthe Kofos '11 wondered what the many small, shiny projections on the new Commons roof are. They're snow guards, Farnsworth responded.

"These are intended to hold the snow pack and prevent it from sliding off as one large block of snow, as happens on Underhill and Merrill."

Kofos also asked if the fireplace lounge will have a piano, as is indicated by an artist's rendering of the space. No piano has been selected yet for the lounge, Farnsworth replied.

An image in the previous update, which depicted the three major Alumni Walk pathways that approach the Commons, evoked a question from other readers: Why does the middle pathway stop short? Answer: The grassy expanse between that path and the building will accommodate the large tents that Bates erects for special occasions.

Alumni Walk: Finally, is the Outing Club camping out under two blue plastic tarps on Alumni Walk? Nope. Those tarps are protecting the concrete bases for two granite installations, of which one will display the college's name and the other will honor generations of Bates alums. The concrete needs to be kept warm while it cures.

Farnsworth explained that a search is continuing for the appropriate granite for the installations, and they will be completed as soon as that stone is found.

Can we talk? What do you think about the campus improvements process?What would you like to know about it? What do you know that we don't? We want to hear from you. Please e-mail your questions and comments to Doug Hubley, with "Construction Update" in the subject line.

Our back pages: Campus Construction Update returns the week of Jan. 7, 2008. If you just can't do without until then, visit the index of earlier Campus Construction Updates.

By Doug Hubley

Done deal: Seen here from Mount David, the new student housing is essentially finished. Below: the handrail at the amphitheater; the reborn Class of 1910 Gate; black stones on a roof and an Alumni Walk view; looking up toward the ventilation monitor; the new bakery; the vegan station; at bottom, a view of the Euro Grill.

Just a few months ago, new construction projects at Bates were transforming a swath of campus that extended from Mount David to Merrill Gym.

Now, like a Hollywood crane shot where the camera swoops down from lofty to intimate, the focus of construction at Bates is closing in on the interior of the new dining Commons. (more...)

Fall arrives, leaves: Changing foliage frames 280 College St. Below: North Bardwell Street crosses the three main Alumni Walk paths; looking west on the walk; the Emporium terrace; Commons' west entrance; a southern view; Frank's Lounge.

There's a scene in It's a Wonderful Life where Clarence, guardian angel to James Stewart's character George Bailey, comments that in Heaven, nobody uses money.

Bailey retorts, "Comes in pretty handy down here, bub."

A parallel may apply to a Bates construction project that has its own holiday connection. The project isn't inspiring like Alumni Walk, magnificent like the new dining Commons or heartwarming like the new student housing. But a new parking lot behind Merrill Gymnasium that should open around Thanksgiving will come in handy, bub, easing the squeeze that Bates motorists have felt the past six months. (more...)

Fireside chat: Donna Rampersad '08 of of Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago, speaks with Kimal McCarthy '09 of Nantucket, Mass., in Frank's Lounge at the new student housing. Below: Fenceless along the Commons' north face; seen through glass, the dining hall's wood ceiling; birches at the east entrance; the plaza near the 1910 Gate; the amphitheater's base at Lane Hall; 280 College; as the earth churns; at bottom, from left, Ladd Library, Alumni Gym, Roger Bill and the new Commons.

The new dining Commons should be open for business when students return from break on Feb. 25, project manager Paul Farnsworth reported. And it's hoped that construction work will be complete about a month prior to the opening.

While there's still plenty to do on the 60,000-square-foot facility, recent progress has been "amazing," Farnsworth said. "You walk through and notice things, and it's like, 'When did they do that?' " (more...)

From left, Emily, Tim and Lindsay Harrington '11 of Warwick, R.I., survey the football team's progress from the north end of the field.

Inclement weather on Friday evaporated as a beautiful Saturday and Sunday materialized for Parents & Family Weekend 2007. Attending classes, academic presentations, athletic competitions, museum exhibitions and tours of the new student housing and the under-construction dining Commons complemented the chance to spend time with families and friends. [Original story]

Thrill of the grill: The Viking gas grill, centerpiece of an Oct. 8 gathering at 280 College. Below: window edging awaiting its trim; the servery in its blue period; the dining hall ceiling; tip kettles; landscaping at Commons east; Alumni Walk benches; and the amphitheater.

On Oct. 8, the outdoor gas grill at 280 College St., the new student residence, made its barbecue debut.

Residence coordinators Jenn Linton '08 and Matt Lopez '08 hosted an inaugural cookout that had been delayed a couple weeks while shipping damage to the grill was fixed.

The gathering was a hit. "The line for food was long — people were excited to eat the first barbecue from the new grill," said Jessica Mellen, the building's resident director. "About 100 people attended at one point or another."

The menu was Dining Services' standard "Late Night Barbecue" package, including dogs, burgers (meat and veggie), chips, salads and cookies.

The shiny Viking grill, Mellen added, "is easy to use — just turn on the gas and push the ignite button."

Turning on gas, in fact, became kind of a theme for the week. A few days after the cookout, Mellen and Physical Plant staff were trained to use a gas fireplace that is a defining feature in Frank's Lounge at 280 College, aka the Stangle Lounge. (more...)