HGBMC: Summer Renovation Projects on Campus

Every summer, a small army of tradespeople descends on the College to care for our campus and its many historic buildings.

In the residence halls, this year saw the restoration of the Merion Hall porch; the refinishing and repair of floors and window seats; and upgrades to the furniture and carpeting in several common rooms.

The fitness center in the Bern Schwartz Fitness and Athletic Center had its first refresh since the space was renovated and the entryway atrium was added in 2010.

And Lake Vickers, the stormwater retention pond created in 2001-2002 was dredged of more than 400,000 cubic yards of sediment, improving both the quality of the lake and it's ability to act as a filter for stormwater entering Mill Creek.

Reviving a Living Lab

heavy equipment working on dredging the on-campus lake

The Dredging of Lake Vickers

Created during the 2001-2002 academic year, Lake Vickers (named for former Bryn Mawr President Nancy Vickers) is an innovative pond structure that naturally improves stormwater quality and manages stormwater discharge into Mill Creek. It has also served as an outdoor laboratory for wetlands ecology and environmental studies.

Over the years, as the lake has done its job of collecting and storing sediment from the area stormwater, that sediment has built up, making the pond shallower and less effective.

This summer, the College contracted with Toth Brothers Dredging and Clearing, who, over the course of about four weeks, removed 400,000 cubic yards of sediment, restoring the pond to its original 12-foot depth.

After

The sediment collected from Lake Vickers was hauled to a waste transfer facility approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, where it will be dried out and used for compost.

As part of the project, the College planted 1,200 new native wetland plants in and around the pond.

"I see the pond as a living lab," says Wayne Troop, assistant director of facilities and grounds, who oversaw the project. "We didn't just do this for the ecosystem or for the landscape on campus. We want this pond to be a learning resource for students and faculty."

Restoration Done Right

Completed in 1885, Merion Hall is Bryn Mawr's oldest residence hall. Whenever work needs to be done on the building, great care is taken to maintain its original character. This summer's work to repair the porch's structure and many of its broken tiles was no exception.

The College worked with a historic consultant on the project. Delran Builders did the reconstruction work, and the tiles were created in Britain by Craven Dunill Jackfield, who have been making tiles since 1872, with a method where clay slip (liquid clay) is poured into molded indentations to create the different colors of the tiles.

Shaping Up the Fitness Center

The Bern Schwartz Fitness and Athletic Center has had a number of updates to equipment and changes to how the office and locker rooms are arranged and used since its renovation in 2010. This summer, the interior spaces were made brighter and more inviting with a fresh coat of paint, including a new athletics logo that greets visitors as they enter the fitness center.

the atrium of Bryn Mawr's fitness center

Common Rooms Get a Fresh Look

Residents in Brecon, Pembroke West, and Rockefeller Hall now have comfier and brighter common areas to gather in. Pictured below is the before and after of one of the common rooms in Brecon Hall.

Empty Brecon common room with old furniture

Campus Improvements

Bryn Mawr's Facilities Services team is constantly working to maintain and improve all aspects of the campus's grounds and its buildings. For an up-to-date listing of the major projects the team is currently working on, visit the Facilities Services section of the website.

See Bryn Mawr's longterm vision for the campus and its future in the Comprehensive Campus Plan, a part of the College's vision for The Next Chapter.

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