Summertime on a college campus – to some, the phrase still conjures up old school images of deserted dining areas, echoes in the residence halls, and those left behind lingering in the lazy, hazy dog days of summer. Though this is hardly the case any summer at Curry College, whose campus community is typically active and abuzz all summer long with continuing education students, conference center activity, athletic camps and the annual Blue Hills Writing Institute, the summer of 2004 will long be remembered as a time of extraordinary action, when major facility improvements have taken place in every corner of the campus.
Perhaps most obvious of all the out-of-doors work is the new Walter M. Katz Athletic Field. Responding to the growing demands of our Championship NCAA Division III Athletic Program, as well as the demands of a very popular intramural program and general recreation needs, a new all-weather “field-turf” playing surface has been installed on the football and soccer field with greatly expanded seating, press box, lights, and a resurfaced parking lot. Made possible, in part, by a philanthropic gift from Walter M. Katz ’89 and his family, this new, twenty-four hour a day athletic field will be used continually by Curry students. Additional athletic related improvements included the resurfacing and revitalization of the “Big 9” tennis court facilities and the recently developed outdoor basketball courts.
Exterior enhancements extend from the front gate to roadways and parking lots across campus. New sidewalks and newly paved roads stretching from the front entrance on Blue Hill Avenue along Blue Jay Way and up the Miller Gym Hill provide more comfortable travel for drivers and pedestrians alike. Reconfigured and expanded parking lots include the Levin Library lot, the D. Forbes Will Athletics Complex lot, and the Mayflower lot, resulting in increased parking spaces on campus for our growing community. A brand new road has been built connecting the Levin Library parking lot to the newly resurfaced Mayflower parking lot and the road in front of Mayflower, Lombard, and State House is no longer a thruway but part of a planned campus commons and park connected to the academic quadrangle.
On the quad, a new ramp leading into the Science Building and a long awaited elevator within the Hafer Academic Center were installed. Various projects, such as painting, residing, replacing windows, or resurfacing roofs, were completed across campus in a number of locations, including residence halls - Lombard, Main House, Mayflower, Main House and North Hall – the PAL building and Drapkin Student Center.
Larger structural improvements included a large addition to 79 Atherton Street, the building that houses the Finance and Registrar’s Offices. This expansion will enable the Financial Aid Office to relocate joining the Finance staff in this building, creating a central Student Financial Services Office to better serve students. Construction of a brand new facility on the far south end of campus along Milton Street for the Curry Early Childhood Center, slated for opening later in the fall, will open up additional classroom space in the Kennedy Academic Center.
And the construction was not limited to bricks and mortar; much labor occurred indoors this summer with the completion and launch of the newly redesigned Curry website.
What else? Small projects too numerous to mention go on everyday as Curry strives to provide the excellent living and learning experience and environment our students need and deserve. Sustaining our growth, meeting our strategic goals, and creating a culture of philanthropy designed to assure our strength and ability to serve students for generations yet to come is our most important priority.
Curry College has been growing at a spectacular pace in terms of enrollment - which has doubled since 1996 - new academic programs, and additional faculty and staff. The campus today features several new or significantly renewed facilities constructed over the past eight years including contemporary residence halls, state-of-the-art radio and television facilities, and technologically “smart classrooms.” Major beautification efforts
throughout the beautiful 132-acre campus continue to make Curry College an attractive, comfortable environment for a expanding community.
Each of these recent improvements, vitally important in support of our mission, has been carried out for the benefit of students, parents, alumni, friends, faculty, staff and all who visit the Curry campus.
What next? With Curry’s strategic plan driving the College forward to an enrollment of 2,000-2,200 traditional age, full-time students, on the construction horizon are additional residence halls, more classrooms and a new student center to accommodate growing demands for dining, recreation, gathering spaces, and student service needs such as the bookstore and student government spaces.
As students arrive back on campus for fall semester classes, and as alumni, parents and friends arrive for special events such as Homecoming and Family Weekend, home athletics games, or to hear visiting speakers, the Curry community welcomes all and encourages everyone to explore and enjoy the results of excellence in action evidenced in Summer 2004.