Garry Jenkins told a gathering on Sept. 7 that he has noticed a frequent theme in chatting with members of the college community: their warm feelings for 104-year-old Chase Hall. 

“They tell me about special, unforgettable moments that happened here,” Jenkins, president of �ֲ���ý since July, said to a crowd celebrating the building’s re-opening after an in-depth renovation that began last year. 

Former students recall sharing meals in Chase with friends, attending dances and club meetings, and enjoying casual encounters while checking their post-office boxes, Jenkins said. And even as longtime services were relocated from Chase in recent years, leaving students fewer reasons to visit, there was “still something about Chase that made it part of the beating heart of this campus,” he said.

“Now, after 14 months of renovation and rejuvenation, it’s absolutely fantastic [and] ready to bring students and faculty back — throwing open the doors, welcoming people in, ready to be relevant.”

Restoring the relevance of Chase was high on the list as the long-planned renovation tackled a variety of goals: consolidating Student Affairs staff and functions in a handy location, improving physical access to the building, making wayfinding easier, and brightening and opening up spaces once dim and confined.

Moreover, in keeping with other recent building projects at �ֲ���ý, Chase gained not only new spaces for students to study, meet, or zone out, but a wild diversity of configurations and appointments for those spaces. Even the former Dining Services loading dock, now considered part of a plaza that faces Muskie Archives, has been transformed into a place to take one’s ease.

There are ”one million interesting, comfortable nooks and crannies where you can hide out if you need to make a call, review your notes, or have a mindful few minutes,” estimated another speaker at the reopening, Allen Delong, senior associate dean for Purposeful Work and one of the building’s new inhabitants.

“It’s my hope for each of us that we get to know the timeless, beautiful multi-use spaces like Hirasawa and Skelton lounges, and the lovely little quirky ones that you’ll discover on your own,” Delong said to students at the reopening. “Over the years, alumni have made great memories in this building, and starting today you should, too.”

The ceremony took place in the Chase Hall courtyard in a dreamlike haze of angled sun and temps nudging 90. Also speaking was Geoff Swift, �ֲ���ý vice president for finance and administration and treasurer, who joined Jenkins in thanking the parties who helped bring the renovation to a successful conclusion — including Pam Wichroski, retired head of capital planning and construction, who was an early advocate for the project.

Student government Co-President Dhruv Chandra ’25 helped Jenkins and Swift cut the wide garnet ribbon to end the re-opening formalities, whereupon some 250 folks attending the event made for the refreshment tables or entered Chase for a look around. 

Wrapping up: The city of Lewiston issued a certificate of occupancy for Chase on Aug. 25, and staff representing six Student Affairs functions moved in during the last four days of August. (Those functions are Campus Life, Community Standards, Dean of Students, Intercultural Education, Purposeful Work, and Residence Life & Health Education.)

With construction still in progress — because of final repairs from the July rainstorm that drove water into �ֲ���ý buildings including Chase — the move-in was “crazy,” said Paul Farnsworth, senior project manager for �ֲ���ý Facility Services. “But par for the course.” 

“It was challenging, as renovation projects are,” said project manager Kristi Mynhier. “You never know what to expect, and this has been no different. But altogether we had the right team on board” — including the college’s project management staff, construction management firm Consigli Construction, and the architect, Canal Five Studio of Portland, Maine.

“We all worked together as a team and never lost sight of that.”

A few construction chores are still going on, primarily testing new building systems and closing out defects found during the punch-list inspections. 

We took our own look around an hour before the ribbon-cutting. We parked our chassis briefly at the inviting, elevated first-floor scenic viewpoint known as the Overnook, oohed and aahed at lots of colorful furniture, scampered up and down the Central Stair like innocent tots, and admired the expanded, glass-walled reception area for the Office of Intercultural Education.

The carpeting was nice in the Central Stair (and color-coded so you’ll know what level you’re on) and we liked the old-meets-new aesthetic created there by bare brick, glossy wood, and stainless-steel handrails. We also appreciated the bright new finishes applied to portions of Chase otherwise not involved in the renovation, such as the stairway and passage from the lobby to Memorial Commons, and the venerable second-floor Skelton and Hirasawa lounges.

Chase was mostly quiet for our inspection. We encountered only a lost student late for an appointment, a carpenter fitting wooden doors on the second floor, a few alumni happily agog at the building’s look and layout, and Chris Streifel, director of capital projects, at work on his laptop and enjoying the view from the Res Life reception area.

An exception to the tranquillity was in the Center for Purposeful Work, on the first floor, where Delong and other staff were abuzz with the excitement of their attractive new digs. Hoi Ning Ngai, director of employer engagement and business advising, gave us a quick tour. “I love the light,” she said — PW’s corner suite basks in southern sun that pours in through expanses of glass, including the new “lightwell,” a staircase-turned-atrium at the main Campus Avenue entrance. 

Ngai pointed out newly showcased features of the old building’s original architecture, such as prominent wooden trusses that help keep the whole works standing. And she explained that the office culture in Purposeful Work is dynamic. Only Delong and Sheila Anderson, director of operations, marketing and outreach, have permanently assigned offices, while everyone else floats, supported by such apparatus as unobtrusive employee lockers and rewriteable name plaques next to office doors.

Seems like a fitting example for students preparing for post-graduation workplaces much changed from even a few years ago. 

Folks attending the Sept. 7 reopening of Chase Hall look and listen as President Garry Jenkins offers remarks prior to the ribbon-cutting. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Seen from the Kenison Gate, this image of Chase Hall was taken an hour or so prior to its re-opening ceremony, on Sept. 7. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Looking upward in the lightwell, part of Chase Hall’s reconfigured main entrance onto Campus Avenue. Once this shaft was a stairwell. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A student worker checks in at the Center for Purposeful Work, in newly renovated Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

This “bar” in the Purposeful Work suite is equipped with lockers for staff and student workers to stow their stuff. The angled wooden beams are load-bearing trusses that are original to century-old Chase Hall and have been left exposed as a reminder of the building’s long history. (Kristi Mynhier/�ֲ���ý College)

Oak stair treads, blond high-tech floor decking, LED accent lights, and metal handrails all add to the Central Stair’s stylish appeal. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Looking up through the Central Stair. The blond wood is cross-laminated timber, a wood product that’s greener than a traditional concrete and steel structure and much faster to install. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

This meeting room in Chase Hall’s new Student Affairs office suite houses a rugged fireplace original to the century-old building. The projecting brick pattern is replicated in decorative brick insets flanking the main Chase entrance. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Comfy seating in the Residence Life offices. Stacked on the windowsill are board games that Res Life staff can borrow for student social events. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

In its latest incarnation, the once-clubby Chase Hall Lounge has a decidely businesslike look. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Chase Hall Lounge post-renovation. Note the new location of the entrance, and to the right of that, the three indented rectangles — exterior windows that were bricked in when the building was expanded in the late 1940s. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

This seating area in the Student Affairs offices is situated about where art and stationery supplies were displayed in the College Store’s Chase Hall days. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A view through glass of the lightwell from Chase Hall’s second-floor lobby. Applying black paint around the windows was among the last chores undertaken in the building’s 14-month makeover. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Daylight in a flex office space in Chase Hall’s Purposeful Work suite. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Cafe-style furniture lends an Old World ambience to this patio created from what was formerly the Dining Services loading dock. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Summery summary: Does a tree falling in the woods make a sound if there’s no one around to hear it (or if someone is there but plugging their ears and singing “La, la, la!” to block it out)?

Does construction take place at �ֲ���ý if Campus Construction Update doesn’t cover it?

We are not credentialed to address the first question. But we can confirm the existence, against all odds, of �ֲ���ý construction that we haven’t covered.

During summer 2023, for instance, Campus Construction Update failed to tell you about new window units being installed at the Residential Village (a project begun in 2022, when we also didn’t mention it). Nor about new finishes beautifying the Plavin Dance Studio locker room, nor modern desks replacing the antediluvian units in two Hathorn Hall classrooms. But those things happened!

Meanwhile, among non–Chase Hall projects that we did bestir ourselves to tell you about, three that �ֲ���ý had planned for the summer are done. (Still outstanding are repairs to Carnegie Science related to water damage from the July 25 cataclysm, but Smith and Hedge halls are fully back to their pre-flood selves.)

The inaugural contest on the brand-new Garcelon Field playing surface took place on Sept. 9, as women’s soccer welcomed Emerson College. The Bobcats didn’t prevail, but Head Coach Joe Vari said that the season opener “was extra-special with the new turf. The surface plays great and makes Garcelon a premier sports complex in Maine.” 

On Sept. 1, improvements to the attic of Hathorn Hall were completed, as builders finished repairing the platform beneath the bell tower, improving the ladder to the hatch leading to the roof, and activating a new HVAC machine. “We were able to wrap up just in the nick of time,” said Project Manager Brian Lanoie.

Also including new walkways, lighting, and retractable stairs for attic access, the project set the stage for replacement of the mechanism for sounding Hathorn’s historic bell. Preparations specific to that job are ongoing.

Finally, at the end of August, representatives from the West Coast firm DBPC finished installing high technology that drives �ֲ���ý’ new Immersive Media Studio. Room 110 in Coram Library is home to the so-called IMStudio, which will enable the elevation of art and performance pieces to new levels of interactivity and sensory stimulation. (Imagine the Star Trek universe “holodecks,” but with less-predictable plot points.)

DBPC also provided training for faculty and staff who will work with students in operating the facility, which comprises four windowless walls coated in “projector screen” paint and an overhead grid that supports the active technology.

During the training “we installed projectors and speakers, and learned how to program the various components of the network system,” said Associate Professor of Theater Tim Dugan. Dugan and Carolina González Valencia, associate professor of art and visual culture, are co–principal investigators of the grant that funded the project. 

“When we tested some video and sound from [music professor] Asha Tamirisa’s and Carolina’s projects for the first time, it was magical. We were elated,” Dugan said.

The IMStudio is an expression of the �ֲ���ý Arts Collaborative program called IMPACT 21st (Innovation, Media, Process, Arts, Collaboration, and Technology for the 21st century), a multifaceted approach to supporting students and faculty engaging in technology-based arts practices and education.

The IMStudio will host “visiting artists to exhibit and/or perform their state-of-the-art works for the community while engaging with students,” Dugan continued. “This will provide faculty, staff, and students with opportunities to integrate technology into the arts curriculum through regular workshops and training, and artist residency programs.”

More broadly, adds González, it’s hoped that the facility will “create the space to collaborate between different disciplines and academic units.”

Needless to say, the studio’s potential for both creativity and education is ripe for exploration. In terms of public exposure, plans for a “soft opening” are afoot, and an arts-faculty collaboration and open house in early December are also in the works. “I couldn’t be more excited about the potential that the IMStudio has to offer the �ֲ���ý community,” Dugan said.

Thanks to Aaron Morse, associate athletic communications director, for additional reporting.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, and reminiscences about construction at �ֲ���ý College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “La, la, la!” in the subject line.

One of the destructive torrential rains that have characterized this summer in New England hit Lewiston and Auburn on July 25.

Across the Twin Cities, the evening storm dumped nearly four inches of rain in less than two hours. It flooded streets, buckled pavements, and briefly shut off electricity to hundreds of residents.

In �ֲ���ý’ neighborhood, the municipal stormwater drainage system was overwhelmed by the runoff. That meant that instead of entering that system as intended, much of the rain falling on �ֲ���ý stayed at �ֲ���ý, backing up into buildings and damaging walls, floors, and some equipment — and sparking an impressive cleanup response by the college’s Facilities Services team.

One of those buildings was Chase Hall — nearly ready to reopen after a 14-month renovation that is making this century-old student center a place that’s more welcoming and easier to navigate.

The storm hit one day after all the new furniture for Chase had arrived, three days before the city of Lewiston was scheduled to conduct its formal occupancy inspection, and less than a week before Student Affairs staff were scheduled to move in.

Most of the damage consisted of wet wallboard and carpeting (some of which was installed just hours before the storm). For the most part, the flood was less than an inch deep, but that was enough to necessitate throwing away new carpet and replacing strips of new wallboard adjoining the floor, along with the attached trim strips called “cove base.”

The stormwater affected portions of the lowest floors of Chase: a Residence Life office suite, the ground floor lobby, the Student Affairs offices in the former College Store site, and the bottom level of the new Central Stair.

That Central Stair location, in fact, was the scene of the most concentrated water damage. The pit at the base of the new elevator shaft filled up with water, which immersed and thereby ruined both the device that controls elevator speed and the cable that raises and lowers the car.

Still, as Senior Project Manager Paul Farnsworth pointed out during our visit on Aug. 1, the pit sequestered a lot of water that could have caused more widespread trouble elsewhere.

So now, more than two weeks after the deluge, where do things stand with Chase?

The city inspection that precedes the building’s certification for occupancy has been rescheduled for Aug. 25. An opening ceremony for the remodeled Chase is planned for Sept. 7.

And sometime in between, on a date or dates still to be determined, staff for Residence Life, the Center for Purposeful Work, and other Student Affairs functions will move into their new offices.

Just to give you some perspective, Student Affairs’ first heavy lift of the new school year — helping the new �ֲ���ýies of the Class of 2027 get settled in — commences on Aug. 31. (For a different kind of perspective, the Bobcat Den reopens Aug. 28 after being closed for much too long.)

If the cloud-and-silver-lining metaphor seems tacky in this instance, it’s still true that the storm’s impact on Chase could have been much worse. Much of the building’s new furniture had been placed in storm-affected areas, but waterproof legs and feet resisted any damage. Replacement of the damaged wallboard is underway, and replacement carpet will be laid after the walls are repainted.

And as Farnsworth pointed out, “If this had happened three weeks later, everyone would have moved in and I would have had to move them all out again.”

The storm’s scrambling of the original Chase timetable has even conferred certain advantages. For example, with the move-in delayed, the project team has been able to tackle so-called day-two items — tasks normally left until after the certificate of occupancy has been issued. “We’re able to get a lot of that work done now, rather than having to come back after the building’s occupied,” said Kristi Mynhier, �ֲ���ý’ project manager for Chase.

In at least one case, in fact, the storm even hastened Chase past a major milestone. As Mynhier explains, it was desirable to get the HVAC system running to help dry out the building. That entailed connecting the system to the campus-wide network of HVAC sensors and controls. So that got done faster than anticipated.

Meanwhile, in areas of Chase that didn’t get wet, the renovation is winding down. With the countertop and other woodwork now in place at the Overnook, the first-floor lobby is about done. The glass walls and doors have been installed around the reception area for the Office of Intercultural Education. And technicians are installing card-access readers in a variety of locations.

As noted, Chase wasn’t the only �ֲ���ý building harmed by the storm: Carnegie Science, Smith, Hedge, and Kalperis halls were the others. “Merrill Gym and Lindholm House had water that was removed, but no real damage to finishes,” notes Jay Phillips, director of Facility Services operations. (There was water erosion and other damage to the campus grounds, too.)

Phillips adds that some 40 �ֲ���ý staffers, including custodians and folks in the building trades, were involved in the clean-up and subsequent repairs. A crew from the cleaning and restoration company ServPro also helped out.

Nearly a week after a storm soaked floors in Chase Hall, getting things dry was still a priority. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

An Aug. 1 image from the Student Affairs office suite shows the aftermath of the July 25 rain: new carpet has been discarded, a 12-inch strip of wallboard removed, and a dehumidifier and fan are drying things out. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Just prior to the July 25 deluge, this Residence Life office had been fully carpeted. Stormwater entering through an HVAC condensate drain soaked, and spoiled, parts of the new carpet that were subsequently stripped out for replacement. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

One outcome of the July 25 stormwater backup into Chase Hall was a profusion of trash cans staged on the loading dock for emptying. But soon the dock, with furniture like something from a Parisian sidewalk cafe, will be a place for repose and for socializing. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A new Purposeful Work interview room on Chase Hall’s second floor. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Plastic covers still protect much of the new furniture in a second-floor lounge in Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

At 89 inches, this television in a second-floor Chase Hall lounge is �ֲ���ý’ largest flatscreen. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Sitting at a new table amidst other furnishings awaiting deployment, a member of the Consigli Construction staff works in Chase Hall Lounge. Note the remodeled ceiling, and the relocated wall in the background. The territory beyond will belong to the Center for Purposeful Work. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

At one time this wall separating the Central Stair and Chase Hall Lounge was the rear outside wall of Chase Hall. During the recent renovation, the old window openings were restored and reglazed to add visual interest to the building’s interior. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Inspired by �ֲ���ý Manufacturing Company bedspreads, woven in Lewiston, decorative metalwork has been applied to the front of the Overnook in Chase Hall’s first-floor lobby. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Chase Hall’s newly renovated main lobby. The stairway to the left of center leads to Memorial Commons. The corridor at center, adjacent to the new Overnook, leads to the Central Stair. The new staircase behind the column emerges on the second floor at Skelton and Hirasawa lounges. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The stairs and corridor to Memorial Commons have been snazzed up with new paint, floor and step coverings, and handrails. The blue material provides temporary protection to the new flooring. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

This seating area in the Center for Purposeful Work backs up to the so-called lightwell, a former stairwell that still encloses one of Chase Hall’s two Campus Avenue entrances. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

New paint, carpet, and furniture in a dean’s office in Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A view of the Central Stair and its elevator. Note the stylish new handrails. The blue plastic floor protection conceals oak stair treads and flooring (visible overhead) made from cross-laminated timber. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The reconstruction of Chase Hall’s main Campus Avenue entrance was nearly complete on Aug. 1, with just some missing trim and cleaning up to attend to. The doors predate the building’s renovation and were refinished for it. Note the textured brick pattern where the benches meet the building: projecting Flemish bond. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

When a building is flooded, Phillips explains, “It’s critical to get vent holes drilled and walls opened, drying equipment deployed, and lots of air moving within the first 24 hours, or the risk of mold growth increases.

“Our people responded exceptionally well, and their initial response along with continued action the next day prevented further damage and potential mold growth. I’m always impressed by the incredible work our folks perform and their great professionalism under pressure in these difficult situations.”

Projection room: Immersive Media Studio all but done

�ֲ���ý’ new Immersive Media Studio, located in a former classroom and computer lab in Coram Library, is close to completion.

Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, the facility will support instruction in and production of high-tech performances and installations incorporating sound, live action, and projected imagery.

When we visited on Aug. 1, all but a final coat of wall paint, a white “4K” formula that shows projected images to especially good advantage, had been applied. Black floor tiles were placed this week. The ceiling had been coated in matte black paint. With cables newly strung from the control room next door, the ceiling pipe-grid was ready to support the projectors, theatrical lights, and speakers that will cast the digital spells.

Still in their boxes, those gizmos and others were stockpiled in the control room. Technicians from the West Coast firm DBPC had spent the back half of July in there installing computers and controllers, with plans to return and finish up this month, in time for the start of classes.

Tin-knockers get ducts in a row in Hathorn Hall attic

With installation beginning the last week of July, the new retractable stairs that provide access to Hathorn Hall’s attic are in place. Getting to the attic is still a climb, but now a visitor is spared the claustrophobic aspects of the prior arrangement — a steep ladder, jammed into a closet in a faculty office, that topped out in something like the Munsters’ living room but without the laugh track.

Bright new lighting and solid, easily accessed walkways have put an end to the Munstery aspects.

Also in the attic is a new HVAC machine that replaced an obsolete unit, a substitution that in large part was the impetus for the Hathorn attic project. Cote Corp. of Auburn, known for challenging feats of hoisting and rigging, removed the old machine and brought in the new one, which is roughly the size of a chest freezer. Happily, the elevator was large enough to fit each unit, albeit with tolerances as close as an inch or two, says Brian Lanoie, �ֲ���ý project manager.

The HVAC work also entailed the replacement of a lot of air ducts, work done by the tin-knockers of Nason Mechanical Systems of Auburn. Still to be done on the HVAC front is connecting the new equipment to its power supply and to the campus-wide control network.

More broadly, carpentry contractor M.W. Hoss of Portland needs to restructure the attic floor where a hole was cut for the HVAC equipment (a smaller hole at that location where the new stairs are mounted still remains) and refinish the corresponding third-floor ceiling.

This view was taken from the top of the new retractable ladder serving the Hathorn Hall attic. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

New ventilation ducts in the attic of Hathorn Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The installation of this new air handler was a key goal of the summer’s refurbishment of the attic of Hathorn Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Carpenters for M.W. Hoss of Portland, Maine, built this new ladder leading up to the Hathorn Hall belfry. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

And all that work, taking place through August, will complete this phase of the Hathorn attic project. The next phase, the replacement of the ringer for Hathorn’s bell, has yet to be scheduled.

Garcelon Field turf: ‘Bouncy and cushy‘

With athletic practices scheduled to start before the end of August, the overhaul of a landmark sports facility at �ֲ���ý is nearly finished.

Home to Bobcat lacrosse, soccer (occasionally), and — with the deepest historical roots — football, Garcelon Field has received a new playing surface this summer. A product called Legion, made by Shaw Sports Turf, the new artificial turf replaces the surface that was installed in 2010 and had reached the limit of its useful life.

ThenNow

An aerial view of Garcelon Field before and after its turf replacement. Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image. (Branden Rush/�ֲ���ý College)

Both products comprise a grass-like plastic matrix that’s infilled with a mix of sand and crumb rubber. And both surfaces were installed by R.A.D. Sports of Rockland, Mass.

While the Legion is essentially complete (as is a replacement for the 2010 chain-link fence that had surrounded the field), Garcelon remains closed for another week or two while punch-listing and some tests are being conducted.

The turf came in massive rolls that were spooled out into place across the field by specially equipped tractors. But we were interested to learn from Chris Streifel, �ֲ���ý project manager for the turf replacement, that a significant proportion of the installation was performed by people using hand tools. Their work included finalizing the placement of the rolls, tweaking their seams, and — perhaps most interesting — setting in all but the biggest markings on the turf.

As a multi-sport field, Garcelon uses different colors for markings pertaining to different games. Most of these graphics can’t be fabricated at the factory and have to be created by hand on site. “So a lot of customized stuff would be done right on the field, and they would cut out pieces and sew in new pieces,” explains Streifel, the college’s director of capital planning and construction.

“Then somebody goes through and checks all that. So they actually spent the last week just going over in fine detail all of those seams.” Note that this is all done on hands and knees.

“And now you can’t even tell” that the work was done by hand. “It all blends together like it was always together from day one.” Streifel adds, “It’s a lot of fine detail and a lot of expertise.”

A close-up of the new Legion playing surface on Garcelon Field shows the artificial grass and the sand-and-crumb-rubber infill. (Jay Burns/�ֲ���ý College)

The north end of the newly resurfaced Garcelon Field. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

As Garcelon Field is a multi-sport facility, different colors indicate markings on the turf for different games. Most of these field graphics were sewn in by hand. (Jay Burns/�ֲ���ý College)

The colors pop on Garcelon Field’s new Legion playing surface. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A view of the new Legion playing surface, made by Shaw Sports Turf, on Garcelon Field. Many of the markings shown were cut and stitched in by hand. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

“It was a very smooth project,” he notes. Because �ֲ���ý issued its request for bids on the project early, the college was able to get a high slot on R.A.D.’s calendar and avoid the cumulative delays that are almost inevitable over the course of a busy contractor’s summer. “I have nothing but good things to say about the R.A.D. Sports team and Gale Associates, our designer.” Gale is based in Portland.

“The field’s awesome,” Streifel continues. “It’s so fun to step on. It’s so bouncy and cushy, and if I was going to get tackled hard by somebody at this point, that’s where I’d want to have it happen.”

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions and comments about past, present, future, and past-perfect construction at �ֲ���ý to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “Does this work make you tense?” in the subject line.

Still a constellation of construction hotspots, but with �ֲ���ý folks scheduled to move back in by the second week of August, newly refurbished Chase Hall had a certain air of anticipation when we visited last week — something along the lines of, “Is it Christmas yet?”

Well, Ralphie, we’re getting there. Parts of the building are all but finished, sitting empty and quiet, such as the first-floor Purposeful Work suite and the second-floor corridor that parallels Campus Avenue. On the second floor, in fact, the conclusive inspection protocol known as punch-listing began last Friday.

In other Chase spaces, though, the 15-month renovation continues full tilt, with tools and supplies fully deployed, various plastics protecting new finishes, extension cords feeding power from temporary electrical boxes, and sprinkler hoses and data cables dangling from open ceiling grids.

In the big picture, as we’ve reported previously, project management firm Consigli Construction expects to hand control of the building back to �ֲ���ý by the end of July. An interesting focus of attention at the moment is the fire protection system, which includes — in addition to alarms, sprinklers, and illuminated exit signs — controls that, in the event of a fire, switch off the electromagnets that hold certain doors open. The resulting automatic closures of those strategically placed doors can help contain a blaze.

Another system that’s desirable to have in place by the time people move back in, though not directly related to life-safety, comprises local controls for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, says �ֲ���ý Project Manager Kristi Mynhier.

Specifically, there are gizmos that tell the system when humans enter a room so that local air flow and temperature will adjust to accommodate their comfort — an amenity that, in the interest of energy conservation, is otherwise quiescent. Those devices are known as occupancy sensors. Professionals call them as “occ sensors,” but that strikes us as occward jargon.

Bond — projecting Flemish bond: When we visited on June 27, bricklayers were piecing in a bold decorative pattern known as projecting Flemish bond on either side of the main Campus Avenue entrance. Over the entrance, the wooden form for a stainless steel awning was in place. Stainless panels on either side lent a sense of how all the steel trim might look when it’s complete.

Around the corner near the Muskie Archives, new facing had been applied to the sides of the former Chase loading dock, which is becoming a sort of patio. A new floor surface, railings, and outdoor furniture are coming soon. Together with gray asphalt pavers that were recently laid at either side, the area will be known as a plaza.

Inside, specifically in Chase Hall Lounge, new “faux beams” have joined the originals. None of these non-load-bearing features hold up the ceiling, but they do prettify it, and the new faux beams will contain light fixtures, so they can lord that sense of practical purpose over the old beams. New hardwood floorboards for the lounge were stacked in the first-floor lobby to acclimate and will be laid near the end of the renovation.

But new oak stair steps are already being installed on the central stair, a sort of three-dimensional crossroads that connects four levels of the building. The job involves two trades, as carpenters fasten the wood in place and rout out a rectangular depression to fit rubber treads, which will then be glued in by flooring installers. Easier to replace than the wooden steps, the inserts will take the wear from all the feet that use the stair (a song lyric in the making!).

Painters are coating the walls throughout the central stair. (And they’ve finished that eye-catching saturated red on the elevator’s wallboard enclosure.)

Painting is in progress in the first-floor lobby, too, including the new Overnook, that slightly elevated seating area along one wall. Before too long, it will sport new steel railings, which are being fabricated in a pattern resembling the famed �ֲ���ý Manufacturing bedspreads once woven in Lewiston. And that lobby is being cleared of building supplies, aside from the lounge floorboards.

On the upper level of the ground floor — let’s try that again. On what has been called the loading dock level and is now the plaza level — see above — the Residence Life office suite has made big strides since our last visit. Glass doors have been hung at the entrance, most utility terminal fixtures are in place, shiny fan-coil heater-coolers cling to the walls, and fresh paint abounds.

Temporarily a place to store paint, this is the future home of the �ֲ���ý Musicians Union. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Here’s a view of the central stair approached from Chase Hall’s first-floor lobby. The red walls enclose the elevator shaft. The two ladders stand at the entrance to the Office of Intercultural Education. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Chase Hall’s new air handling machine. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The “Overnook,” a distinctive seating area in Chase Hall’s first-floor lobby, looks spiffy with new wallboard and paint on June 27. Sections of air duct are currently stashed there. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

This hardwood flooring will be installed in Chase Hall Lounge toward the end of the Chase renovation. Shown on June 27, it was stored in the Chase Hall lobby to acclimate. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

New landscaping in front of Chase Hall on a gray day in June. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

A handrail awaits its installation in a new stairwell in Chase Hall. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Floor-to-ceiling glass admits a lot of light into this new “huddle” meeting room in the Residence Life offices. A former Dining Services loading dock, just outside the glass, will be transformed into a patio. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Once the Chase Hall loading dock, this concrete platform is being transformed into a patio. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Good griddance

Since our last visit to Coram 110, the future site of �ֲ���ý’ Immersive Media Studio, its walls have been stripped of features. With the goal of rendering the walls into a smooth white surface suitable for image projection, the space has lost, among other things, interior window frames, chalkboards and projection screens, ventilation grilles, outlets for electricity and data, and a species of wood trim called a chair rail that kept belligerent furniture from roughing up the walls.

While daylight was abundant in the room during our visit, the outdoors won’t be viewable from the former classroom for long: Plywood panels that we saw stacked against the walls will soon block the window openings on the inside, although the exterior frames will remain.

But you know the old saying: When a window closes, a ceiling grid appears, and that’s what has happened in Coram 110. Specifically, it’s a theatrical-grade pipe grid. Composed of black 1.5-inch steel pipe, this sturdy frame will enable studio users “to hang anything anywhere,” said Senior Project Manager Paul Farnsworth, referring to the lights, projectors, speakers, and other gear (disco balls?) that will provide images and sounds for productions in the studio.

The ceiling will be painted black so as not to draw attention away from the immersive art and performance action taking place below. The floor, too, will be black, in the form of quartz tiles.

An adjacent room will be equipped as the studio’s control center, home to the high-powered technology that will drive productions in the studio. In the early project planning, that function was located right in 110 itself. But the erstwhile occupant of the room next door, Michael Hanrahan, �ֲ���ý’ director for curricular and research computing, volunteered to move his office to Hedge Hall, thereby freeing more space for productions in the studio itself.

The control room, Farnsworth pointed out, houses one of the two massive fireplaces that originally helped to heat Coram, built in 1902. That fireplace has long been hidden behind wall board — but workers drilled through an upper corner of its 120-year-old brick facade to make way for cables that will connect the 21st-century control center to the immersive-studio gizmos on the ceiling grid.

Talk about worlds colliding.

Pad notes

At Garcelon Field, the 13-year-old FieldTurf was removed during the third week of June in preparation for a new playing surface, which is being laid now. When we visited on June 27, the dirt substrate had been graded and a small crew from the project contractor, R.A.D. Sports of Rockland, Mass., was placing a layer of shock-absorbent turf pads that would buffer between the ground and the playing surface itself.

Weighing just a few pounds apiece, the pads are composed of an aggregate of recycled chunks of soft rubber or plastic. It took 4,275 of them to blanket the field, which measures about 100,000 square feet.

They are laid held together by tabs and indents superficially resembling jigsaw puzzle pieces, but in regular shapes and intervals, making the pad layer easy to assemble but not much fun on a rainy day up to camp.

Meanwhile, 40 or so plastic-wrapped rolls of the new playing surface itself, a Shaw Sports Turf product called Legion, were stockpiled around Garcelon along with giant sacks of the sand-and-rubber-crumb infill that will finish the installation. Placement of the Legion started this week, with infill to follow by mid-July.

In this June 21 image, the Garcelon Field crew from R.A.D. Sports has finished removing the 2010 FieldTurf surface. (Aaron Morse/�ֲ���ý College)

In this June 27 image, Garcelon Field has been stripped of its old playing surface and the placement of shock-absorbing panels on the bare ground is about to begin. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Stockpiled near the Garcelon Field scoreboard on June 27 are shock pads that will underlay the field’s new playing surface. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Placing shock-absorbing turf pads on Garcelon Field as an underlayment for the forthcoming Legion playing surface. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

The turf pads that form a shock-absorbing layer underneath the Garcelon playing surface are made from recycled materials. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Shown near Central Avenue on June 27 are some of the 40 rolls of Shaw Sports Turf that will soon be placed on Garcelon Field. (Doug Hubley/�ֲ���ý College)

Ring, but no swing

Over at Hathorn Hall, someone cut a big hole in the third-floor ceiling. All part of the plan, of course, as retractable stairs will eventually be installed in the hole to improve access to the building’s attic and its historic bell.

In addition to the hole in the ceiling (something that some of us get to enjoy with no effort whatsoever!), the project team addressed two other objectives that will make the completion of the overall project easier and safer. One was the installation of several long LED light fixtures, replacing a few dim, widely dispersed lamps. The other was the creation of new walkways.

The hole, by the way, will come in handy during next week when old HVAC machines and ductwork are removed from the attic and a new machine is winched up there for installation. Cote Corp. of Auburn will handle that rigging job. Sometime later, the hole will be smallified to fit the new stairs.

The HVAC upgrade is a major goal of the Hathorn project. A second is to improve access to the bell, whose ringing mechanism will be replaced in hopes of returning the bell to its former prominence. In response to a question from Bruce Lyman ’67, we learned that an electromagnetic striker will supplant the current winch and cable that currently swing the bell. (It hasn’t been determined whether the striker will contact the inside of the bell or the outside.)

A necessary concession to cost and practicality, the proposed striker will mean the bell no longer swings to ring. But a representative of the ringing mechanism provider, Elderhorst Bells Inc. of Palm, Pa., assures us that the striker can be made to emulate the characteristic, romantic “double ring” of a swinging bell before it comes to rest.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions and comments about past, present, future, and past-perfect construction at �ֲ���ý to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “You used that Flemish bond joke already before!” in the subject line.

Two high-profile summer projects got underway at �ֲ���ý this week.

A new playing surface will be installed on Garcelon Field, replacing the FieldTurf whose arrival we told you about in 2010.

And improvements to Hathorn Hall’s third floor and attic will provide easier access to that building’s belfry, making possible, in turn, the return of Hathorn’s beloved bell to something like its old prominence.

Like the work we covered last week, 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 �ֲ���ý lore.

Toll house: Rung by hand some 19 times a day when it was new, in 1857, has been heard from less and less in recent years.

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’s “clong” resounded at class times and the noon hour. (Until the mid-20th century, the bell was rung by students carefully selected for their reliability — not to mention their tolerance for a spartan living situation, as they resided in a room in Hathorn under less than cozy conditions.)

In recent years, though, the bell has been rung only for Commencement and Convocation. That’s because the bell’s own stock in trade — time itself — has caught up with both the bell and its structural surroundings.

The electric ringing mechanism has become unreliable and potentially hazardous. Getting into Hathorn’s 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 — a thicket of 166-year-old beams and joists — and visitors must closely watch where they put their feet. (Note to self: submit bill for shoe lost in attic.)

A primary objective of this summer’s 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. 

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, �ֲ���ý project manager for aspects of the work not directly related to the bell.

The present ringing system uses an electric winch to pull a cable that’s looped around the bell wheel, rocking the bell and causing the free-swinging clapper to strike the interior. (It’s not clear when the winch system was installed, though a 1956 issue of The �ֲ���ý Student contains a possible allusion to that development.)

Normally the system is controlled by a timer, found elsewhere in Hathorn, that’s programmed to ring at specified dates and times. A manual override is used for special occasions such as Commencement.

While it has still been rung for special events, “the bell has not been routinely active for a couple years now” because of the need for upgrading “to a more contemporary and safer set-up,” says Alan Kelley, mechanical services manager for Facility Services.

In particular, the cable-and-winch mechanism poses a risk of dislodging the bell from its mounting. “It’s a rare event, but out of an abundance of caution, we chose to shut it down for routine operation until it can be modified.”

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.

“Once the attic is renovated and we have safe access, the bell controls will be retrofitted and put back in regular service,” Kelley says. 

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‘s 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.

Turf’s up: 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 �ֲ���ý 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.)

Handily enough, the formal portrait of the Class of 2023 shows off the 13-year-old FieldTurf that’s now being replaced. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

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)

This image of Jamie Walker ’07 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 �ֲ���ý College)

In this 2010 image, workers prepare to flip another strip of FieldTurf, at left, into place. (Gabrielle Otto ’11 for �ֲ���ý College)

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. 

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.

After getting established at the site, removing the old turf, naturally, is R.A.D.’s 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’s effort is much simpler.

“After the existing turf is removed, the contractor will do some very fine grading to restore the precise slopes needed,” says Streifel. And then the new surface will go down. Streifel adds that the graphics on the new turf will be updated.

And what will happen to the old turf? “We may retain some of it for use in the storage areas beneath the grandstand,” Streifel says, and in any case, it will all be recycled or reused in some way. “Once it leaves the site, we don’t directly control that process. I don’t know the details yet,” but they will become clear in the fullness of time.

Can we talk? Campus Construction Update loves to hear from you. Please send questions, comments, and inflammatory speculation about construction at �ֲ���ý College to dhubley@bates.edu, with “Campus Construction” or “Has anyone made the bats-in-the-belfry joke yet?” in the subject line.

An osprey is the Greg Louganis of the avian world. Capable of diving head-first into the water from high in the sky, this raptor repositions its body along the way, snagging a fish with a feet-first splash and grab.

In the warm months, ospreys are frequent visitors to campus. They circle Lake Andrews, searching for their next meal, then dive into the Puddle to scoop a fish (there are lots of goldfish in the Puddle).

But that immense talent doesn’t mean that an osprey, or any bird, will also be good at nest-building, or will make good choices about where to build a nest, says Don Dearborn, an evolutionary biologist and professor of biology.

Watch this osprey bring a branch, gripped in its talons, to the top of a light pole at Garcelon Field on April 7, in an attempt to build a nest.

During the first week of April, an osprey, having returned to campus after its winter sojourn, presumably to Central or South America, tried to build a nest in a spot that seemed to meet the three rules of home building for humans or birds — location, location, location.

Yet the effort failed. Over and over, the osprey carried sticks to Garcelon Field, placing them atop a light pole. But the ever-growing pile of sticks that fell to the ground told the tale: There wasn’t enough purchase or flat space atop the pole to build a nest, and the sticks fell, or were blown, to the ground. The osprey eventually gave up.

“Birds can choose poor sites or simply be bad nest builders,” explains Dearborn. “Although some species are incredibly talented nest-builders, others make nests with holes in the bottom that eggs drop through.”

Birds that live in human-modified environments face additional challenges for nesting, Dearborn explains. “Urban ducks, for example, can choose locations that are fine from their perspective but ultimately problematic.”

Last summer, a duck decided that a planter in front of busy Pettengill Hall was the place to nest. From the duck’s point of view, the location was fine: close to water. But though folks from �ֲ���ý Facility Services worked to keep folks clear of the location, the duck did not hatch any ducklings. Another duck nested in a tree on the Historic Quad.

There’s also nest-building drama and outright thievery, Dearborn says. Frigatebirds, for example, don’t have the right anatomy to collect nest materials, like twigs and sticks, on the ground. “Their legs and feet are too short to do much walking.” 

So they often purloin nesting material from other birds’ nests. “They also steal material in mid-air from other frigatebirds,” says Dearborn.

“But regardless of how frigatebirds acquire nesting material, they share with the duck and osprey the crucial task of making an effective nest in a good location,” he says.

A task that evidently, in the case of our local osprey, doesn’t always go well on the first try.

The signature athletic field at �ֲ���ý — home of Bobcat football and lacrosse — is named for Dr. Alonzo Garcelon of Lewiston, an illustrious 19th-century surgeon, civic leader, Maine politician, and one of the earliest and longest supporters of �ֲ���ý College.

Born in 1813, Alonzo Garcelon lived to age 93. His great-grandfather, James Garcelon, was one of Lewiston’s earliest settlers, a French Huguenot who arrived in 1776.

James operated a ferry across the Androscoggin River just south of town. (Ferries were good business in those days: There was no downtown bridge across the river until 1823.)

The Great Convincer

Alonzo Garcelon was a graduate of Bowdoin (because there was no �ֲ���ý College yet…!) who studied medicine in Ohio before establishing his practice in Lewiston.

Through the middle and late 1800s, he became a local and state political leader and an energetic champion for civic improvement.

On June 26, 1855, Garcelon traveled to Vienna, Maine, to sell Lewiston to the trustees of newly incorporated Maine State Seminary, who were casting about for a location for the new school.

Alonzo Garcelon is perhaps most responsible for �ֲ���ý College being in Lewiston. (Collections of Maine Historical Society, courtesy of MaineMemory.net, item 5584)

As a member of the Maine Senate, Garcelon had supported founder Oren Cheney’s work to secure a charter from the Legislature that winter. “In a sense [the seminary] was his child,” according to �ֲ���ý College and Its Background. “He had voted for it; he knew all about it; he had set his heart on its coming to the city.”

In Vienna, Garcelon pitched Lewiston as a city on the move, and he was right: Mills, railroads, and new citizens were arriving and thriving. The population would soar from 3,500 in 1850 to 19,000 by 1880.

Party Favor

An abolitionist prior to the Civil War, Garcelon switched from the Democratic to the Free Soil Party, which opposed slavery in new Western states. A Republican during the Civil War, he reverted to the Democratic Party after the war to protest Andrew Johnson’s impeachment — aligning himself with Johnson, despite the president’s significant .

Supporting the Troops

As Maine’s surgeon general during the Civil War, Garcelon was adamant that qualified surgeons be assigned to each Maine regiment. War, he predicted, will bring “shattered limbs and ghastly wounds” to Maine soldiers.

“It would be a burning disgrace to have our soldiers called into battle,” he wrote in a letter to then-Maine Gov. Israel Washburn in 1861, and have “preparations for their comfort” be “inefficient” or “totally unprovided.”

Old Stories

Garcelon stayed active well into old age, and newspapers delighted in sharing his age-defying exploits.

In 1889, when he was 76 and in his 50th year in medical practice, The New York Times noted that Garcelon had traveled 360,000 miles to make house calls (equivalent to 14 times around the world).

In 1896, when he was 83, the Times reported that Garcelon, en route home from a nighttime house call, got out of his shay to help his horse navigate a muddy section of road. He fell 8 feet into an abandoned cellar and, despite a back injury, managed to climb out.

With his daughter in the passenger seat, 92-year-old Alonzo Garcelon poses with his one-horse shay on East Avenue in October 1905. In the background is, likely, the family farm. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

In 1900, when he was 87, the Boston Daily Globe wrote, “Always a lover of a good horse, he drives one every day that many a man a great many years younger than he would hesitate to handle.”

At age 92, the Globe noted that Garcelon had traveled to Troy, 72 miles away in eastern Maine, to consult on a leg-amputation case.

Hats Off

Given a sombrero while attending a medical conference in Mexico City at age 83, he wore it proudly around Lewiston.

Final Praise

He “towered in character as in stature over the generality of men,” according to his obituary in The Boston Daily Globe.

Secret to Longevity

“Mingle with young people and cultivate their society,” he once said. He added:

“Old age is worth striving for if the striver has a purpose beyond the selfish end of slothful ease.”

Good Society

Other entities that carry the Garcelon name include, at �ֲ���ý, the Alonzo Garcelon Society, which provides scholarships, funded by civic and business leaders, to local students from Androscoggin County.

Two years after the 1899 completion of Garcelon Field, �ֲ���ý and Bowdoin square off in football in November 1901. �ֲ���ý won, 11-0. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

In Lewiston, there’s the Garcelon Bog Conservation Area (where �ֲ���ý students ) as well as Garcelon Cemetery (near the old ferry site) and Garcelon Street.

In 2008, Alonzo’s great-great-grandson David Garcelon donated an and other materials to �ֲ���ý.

Clearing Garcelon’s FieldTurf surface is “a sign of spring and a sign of spring sports,” says Tim Kivus of Facilities Services.

On this mid-January day, Kivus is driving a red Chevrolet plow truck, which will travel “16 miles forward and 16 miles backward” during its plowing operations, says Kivus.

Plowing Garcelon is a three-person project. Fellow grounds crew member Mike Adams operates a Bobcat skid-steer loader while Adam Wright handles a John Deere wheel loader.

Though official varsity practices won’t start until Feb. 15, athletes of all persuasions will take to Garcelon as soon as it’s clear.

“There’s excitement any time Garcelon is visible,” says lacrosse player Andrew Small ’19 of Deerfield, Ill.

“The �ֲ���ý grounds crew is fabulous,” says head lacrosse coach Peter Lasagna. “They work hard to give students the best opportunities to reach their athletic potential.”

Saturday was certainly a day to celebrate for the �ֲ���ý football team, which defeated Bowdoin 24-17 to earn the Bobcats their fourth straight CBB series title.

But it did not come easy.

“We came into this game knowing there would be some ups and downs,” said senior captain Frank Williams of Brookline, Mass. “You know that always happens with a rivalry game.”

The victory puts this year’s seniors in a class of their own: They’re the first to defeat both Bowdoin and Colby in each of their four years.

After the win, the seniors praised first-year quarterback Brendan Costa of Westport, Mass., who ran for 171 yards and a touchdown, while fellow first-year Jaason Lopez of Marblehead, Mass., added 79 rushing yards and a score.

“They were like, ‘Thank you, thank you,’ Costa said. “I was like, ‘Guys, no. You guys helped me get to where I am today.’ They were unbelievable; they all had great games.”

The CBB trophy remains in Lewiston thanks to young and old alike.

“This is its home,” said Jack Maritz ’18 of St. Louis, Mo. “We’re going to keep it here for years to come.”

The �ֲ���ý football team takes on Bowdoin on . At stake? A fourth consecutive CBB title, which has never been achieved in program history.

“Players are very aware of that,” says offensive lineman Sean Lovett ’18 of Groveland, Mass. “It’s something we not only want to do for ourselves but for alumni and the coaches as well.”

As the senior class seeks to make history, it’s a fleet-footed first-year, Brendan Costa of Westport, Mass., who will lead the Bobcats at quarterback.

Slot receiver Mickoy Nichol ’18 of Dennis Port, Mass., recalls last week’s game vs. Colby when the Mule tied �ֲ���ý in the fourth quarter. Costa “just brought us together and said, ‘I know I’m a freshman, but I’m here with you guys and we’re going to win this game.”

“I’m on the job search right now,” says Max Breschi ’18 of Carlisle, Pa., “and every time I get in contact with alums about jobs, they’re bringing up the CBB.”

This marks the 120th football game between Bowdoin and �ֲ���ý in a series that dates back to the 19th century. And with a victory, the Bobcats’ 15 seniors can etch their name in the record books.

These two images of Garcelon Field, one pre-World War II and one from October, were both taken from the top floor of Roger Williams Hall.

Both show the football team practicing. In the older photo, the team uses a practice field to avoid tearing up game-field sod. Today, since the addition of FieldTurf during 2010 renovations, the �ֲ���ý varsity teams that use the field (football and lacrosse) play and practice on their game field.

You can tell the historical image is from the 1930s because Garcelon Field still had its covered wooden grandstand, much like the grandstand at a county fair race track, complete with lockers below and seating for 600.

The outmoded and unbeloved structure burned in 1939. It was no big deal, reported The �ֲ���ý Student, since new bleachers were already planned. “Students turned out en masse to cheer while the structure gradually crumbled to the ground. The grandstands that replaced it were taken down in 2010 to make way for the current stands.

The football team practices near Bardwell Street in this photo circa 1930s. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

Back then, a cinder track encircled the football field, and Garcelon was the site of track meets through the mid-1970s, when �ֲ���ý stopped hosting outdoor meets until the creation of the Russell Street track and field in 2002.

In the old photo, the baseball field (left) hadn’t yet moved across Central Avenue, which it did in 1986, its place taken by the Residential Village (center of 2017 photo) in 1992. At right in the new photo, you see the fireplace lounge of Commons.

Garcelon Field and environs in October 2017. (Jay Burns/�ֲ���ý College)

The tennis courts, seen in the foreground of the old photo, began disappearing in 1978 when new courts opened along Bardwell Street. The last courts, outside Alumni Gym, were made redundant in the mid-2000s after the opening of the Wallach Tennis Center in 2000.

In the old photo, you can see the white farmhouse across Russell Street (right) and just the gable of the barn  in the current photo. It used to house the art department; it’s now part of the Information and Library Services operation.