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    Laurie Fenlason
    Media Relations Director
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Office of College Relations
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Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
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February 15, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann Shanahan, ashanaha@smith.edu

Smith College Will Officially Break Ground
on New Campus Center Feb. 23

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Smith College will hold an official ground breaking for its campus center at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23.


Trustees and college officials will wear hard hats and wield gold-handled shovels at the event, which will take place at the construction site on Chapin Drive near the rear of John M. Greene Hall. The ground breaking event is open to the public.


The 55,000 square-foot building will provide a social center for the Smith community and a gateway to the campus. Around a long, curved, skylighted gallery that forms its core, there will be exhibition, lounge, meeting and multi-purpose space as well as a café, mailroom and bookstore and areas for student organizations.


A series of outdoor terraces will connect the dining and lounge spaces into the surrounding landscape. The building structure will have a concrete foundation, a steel frame and concrete decks. The exterior skin will be lightweight steel framing, vertical wood siding and glass.
Although the official ground breaking will take place on Feb. 23, the construction fence has already been installed and excavation began on Feb. 11. The building will open in early September 2003. It was designed by the New York firm of Weiss/Manfredi Architects.


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