The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 1 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on September 20, 2019
By Christian Metzger ‘20
Staff Writer
Changes are on the horizon for one of Lake Forest’s most iconic structures—Young Hall.
Following on the heels of the Lillard Science Center’s renovation, Pepper Construction Company, the same construction group that has worked with the College’s other facilities improvement projects, is expected to break ground on the project around spring break next year.
“[Pepper] said it would take about two weeks to get stuff set up to demolish the old Visual Communications building and then they would start digging in April,” explains Lake Forest College Vice President of Finance and Planning Lori Sundberg, who is overseeing the project.
“We’re saying a 12-month project. So in theory, the building will be ready before the end of the school year in 2021. That would be good so faculty can move into their offices before they leave for the summer,” Sundberg said.
The renovation to Young Hall—soon to be renamed Brown Hall—will include a complete overhaul to the interior of the building, which will include expanded faculty and classroom environments as well as a three-story addition to the back of the structure.
With the last renovation to the building occurring in the 1980s (adding the elevator, among other minor changes), Young Hall’s interior has not undergone any significant alteration since it was constructed back in 1878.
“The renovation in the 1980s didn’t fundamentally change the size or the nature of the classrooms in the building, or for that matter any other significant architectural feature. So think about a 140-year-old building, and think about if how classes were taught 140 years ago is the same way they’re taught now. I think the answer is no,” said Lake Forest College President Stephen Schutt. “Classrooms will be expanded and reorganized. There will be several larger classrooms to facilitate larger groups of students—for about 30 to 40 students, there will be central air conditioning and heating throughout the entire complex, and there will be technology installed all through the complex, as well. It’ll allow a way for you and other students to customarily study and engage in classes in a way you can’t right now in that building.”
In addition, there will be several lounge areas set aside for students. “What we’re very aware of with students are areas to sit … to be used for studying or talking outside of class … there will be several of those,” said Sundberg, noting how little room there currently is in the building for students who might want to find a quiet place to study or talk outside of class.
There also will be a large conference room added to the new complex, allowing a kitchen space for catering as well as a porch that will allow visitors to have a full view of the campus lawn. “It will all be one unified facility so you can walk floor by floor from one side to another. It won’t feel like one original building and an addition. It will feel like one project,” Schutt said.
The Career Advancement Center will also find its new home in the renovated Brown Hall, moving from Buchanan Hall on South Campus. The move to Middle Campus will allow students and faculty easier access to the area and allow for better central networking.
The project will cost an estimated $19 million, funded in its entirety through donations. The name for the new facility, Brown Hall, comes from College Trustee William Brown and his wife who have acted as primary donors for the project. “A number of donors have stepped forward to provide support … the leading person in that regard is our Trustee Bill Brown and his wife who have made a lead gift for the project of $9 million,” Schutt said. As of yet, the entirety of the renovation project has yet to be funded.
Talks to begin work on Young Hall have been ongoing for a number of years, says President Schutt. “We have been contemplating the renovation and expansion of Brown Hall for probably half a dozen years … I first had a conversation with the Board of Trustees about it at least four or five years ago,” he said, adding that the recent procurement of the primary donor allows plans to ultimately begin to break ground next semester.
With all the significant changes to the building, the original facade, which faces Sheridan Road, shall remain otherwise unchanged. All the expansion will occur on the back and inside of the building, preserving the original, historical face of the College. “I would hope for another 140 years,” Schutt said.
While the Brown Hall renovation remains the primary project for the College looking into the immediate future, administrators are already planning the next steps to take in improving and modernizing the campus.
“One thing that is pretty clear to me is that we need to develop a short-term and long-term residence hall improvement plan, as well,” Schutt said. “We have 10 residence halls on campus and they sort of run the gambit of old to new or newer and a number of them need simple full-scale renovations. But, also, we need to think about how students live today, what student residential preferences are, and plan for the long term in a way that will deliver those preferences.”
The residence hall plan “is a big project for me and Dean Connor this year,” Sundberg said. “We’re going to be putting together the information the trustees need for master planning for the facilities.”
While the plans remain in the works for now, the likes of Blackstone, Harlan, and Lois halls could very well be the next College facilities to get a facelift in the coming years as part of the ongoing campus revitalization efforts.
Christian Metzger can be reached at metzgerct@lakeforest.edu.
