Westminster’s administration has warned the school community that upcoming construction on campus will create “entropy” in the coming year, but they are hopeful that the results will be worth the disruption.
Our community has worked around campus construction for a number of years, particularly during the construction of Barge Commons, Thompson Stadium, Hawkins Hall, and Cambell Hall in 2020. This summer, Westminster will undergo another round of major construction, but with a new strategy: to overwhelm the campus with work in order to finish faster, according to Toni Boyd, Vice President for Finance and Operations. “Our goal is to maximize disruption next school year, in the hope of returning our campus to normal in the year after,” she says. “We know that students only have four years of High School in their life. It is not fair that we ruin all of them, so we try to contain the disruption only to one school year.”
While this plan makes sense for the future of student life, it has some community members questioning its real implications. 8th grader Austin Patterson has doubts about the project. “I am really worried about getting to my classes on time, especially going into Upper School next year; the first few minutes I miss could make a difference on a test,” he says. “I’m also disappointed that the administration hasn’t addressed us as students yet, because I feel like they are insulting my intelligence.” Middle School French teacher Jennifer Speir agrees. “I am going to keep up my hopes that they will work to the timeline and have pathways for movement ready.”
Along with the current addition to Love Hall, which adds a new creative learning wing, a new “innovation building” will go in Scott Hall’s place. This project will level the hill between Pressley Hall and Scott Hall, accommodating mobility needs. Additionally, the administration plans to reconstruct the center of campus, providing a larger patio and green space outside the front entrance of Pressley Hall for Upper School events, including graduation.
These ambitious facilities demand out-of-the-box development plans. Due to the lack of road access to Scott Hall, two large cranes will be positioned on either side of the construction site: one between Scott Hall and Robinson Hall and the other between Scott Hall and the path to Broyles. With these arrangements already in place, the operations office has turned to other matters. “At this point, we are unsure of the new name of the building in Scott Hall’s place. We have a dedicated group of donors and members of the community who are working hard to determine a name for the building,” Boyd says.
Many students and teachers also also excited about the opening of a new state-of-the-art innovation space, donated by the Goizueta Foundation. The new facilities will be located towards the rear of Scott Hall’s replacement, connecting to the existing innovation lab in the Middle School. IT Services and Security offices will also be located in the Mezzanine, facing the campus center, ensuring that essential services will be easily accessible to students. Tim Shabanowitz, Middle School Director of STEAM expresses his optimism for the new spaces, “I am very excited for the new Lab because as the Upper School grows, so will we,” he says. “There are going to be more resources for students and teachers to use, and more of a connection between the divisions’ programs.”
Nonetheless, Boyd warns there will be some cutbacks in the name of construction. “Many of our specialized summer programs, like Robotics Camp, will not be offered this summer, due to the construction,” she says. “We do not receive much-advanced notice as to when resources on campus, like power and plumbing, will be down, and therefore cannot rely on resources we don’t know that we will have.” This change may greatly impact the lives of many of our younger Wildcats, as summer programs serve as a reliable childcare provider for many Westminster families. Vivian Yue, a Lower School parent, is frustrated with the uncertainty. “We were glad that our child got the opportunity to explore new skills and make new friends [in past summers]. We would be very sad if we would not be able to do so this coming summer,” she says. “It is frustrating that the school has not informed us about the program cancellation yet. Now is the time for us to plan for the coming summer. We definitely would appreciate more transparency and better communication from the school.”
As Westminster broke the news of construction to the community, rumors of the bookstore being permanently closed concerned Middle School Students, especially due to their lack of access to the cafes. Boyd comforts students, saying, “Yes, there will be a bookstore next year. The circulating rumors of us removing the bookstore are untrue; we just don’t know where it will be located at this time.”
With critical details just now being released to the public, we don’t yet know how the community will respond to the plans. That said, those on the inside remain hopeful for another great year, despite the challenges ahead. “The construction will be very disruptive to student life next year,” says Boyd. “It is fair to say that on the path to transformation, you will have triumphs, and you will have some trauma. That’s what transformation is.”