Alumni 55th Reunion Central

​​Allegheny Class of '​66

Campus Buildings Added Since We Were at Allegheny

Edwards House (1969, completely renovated in 1991)
A co-ed residence hall for upperclass students and named in honor of Dr. Allen B. Edwards at the completion of his 25 years of service to Allegheny. A gift from Mr. and Mrs. George M. Henderson, Class of 1950, helped to make the building possible. Edwards has single rooms, suites, and accommodations for handicapped students, as well as loung­es, a kitchenette, a laundry facility, and a study room.

Richard King Mellon Recreation Building (1969)
A gift of General and Mrs. R.K. Mellon. It includes a swimming pool, diving well, six hand-ball and squash courts, and faculty offices. The pool area accommodates 500 spectators.

The Fine-Arts Campus Center (1971)
A fine arts and recreation center encompassing the following:

•  Arnold Hall for Music

                           A gift from the estate of Ella Arnold, contains the faculty offices for the Department of Music, laboratory rooms, and practice rooms for                                  individuals and groups.

• Doane Hall of Art

                          A gift from the estate of Foster B. Doane, Class of 1917, includes the Bowman, Megahan, and Penelec Art Galleries, darkrooms,                                         ceramics facilities, a classroom and a seminar room, studios, and provision for secure storage of works of art. Renovations began in 2005                           and include dividing the current studio space into four separate studio classrooms and creating a wireless technology hub and centralized                           social space to encourage interaction between students and faculty members.

• Shafer Auditorium

                         Named for Governor Raymond P. Shafer, Class of 1938, the 39th governor of Pennsylvania, and president of the College from 1985 to                                1986.  The auditorium seats 1,750. Provision for this facility was assisted substantially by a gift from the Western Pennsylvania                                            Conference of the United Methodist Church.

• George M. Henderson Campus Center

                          Includes McKinley’s food court, a cultural center, student orga­nization offices, lounges, the radio station, Merriman Bookstore, post office,                           the Center for Intercultural Advancement and Student Success, conference rooms, a game room and Grounds for Change Coffeehouse.                            This facility is named in honor of George M. Hender­son, Class of 1950 and trustee of the College from 1965 to 1978.

Lawrence Lee Pelletier Library (1976)
Renovated in 2007, the library’s main floor houses a computer class­room, study and collaborative work spaces, a café, a digital multimedia development suite, library services, and the Learning Commons. The Learning Commons can assist students at any stage of their college careers with developing research, writing, presentation, study, and com­puting skills. The library’s other two floors provide quiet study spaces and house a rich mix of print and electronic resources, with more than 450,000 physical items, 70,000 ebooks, 40,000 print or electronic journals, and 100 online indexes. Additional science-related collections are housed in Alden Hall.

The library also provides Allegheny students with 24/7 access to electronic resources. Any materials not immediately available in the library’s print or online collections can be borrowed through library ser­vices from other institutions in Pennsylvania and, if necessary, worldwide.

The Special Collections area, located on the upper floor, was renovat­ed and expanded in 2007 to include the Wayne & Sally Merrick Historic Archival Center. Special Collections include the College’s original library, collected by Timothy Alden during the College’s early years; the Ida M. Tarbell Collection; and other notable manuscript and book collections. The library is a depository for United States and Pennsylvania documents. All Library collections are available for students’ use.

Steffee Hall of Life Sciences (1993)
Financed substantially by a gift from Arthur D. Steffee ’56 and William P. Steffee ’57. It is a 55,000 square foot building that is connected to Doane Hall of Chemistry. Facilities within Steffee Hall include faculty offices and laboratories for the Department of Biology, a greenhouse, research laboratories for students, a computer classroom, a seminar room, teaching laboratories, preparation rooms, and study lounges.

Doane Hall of Chemistry (1993)
Financed substantially by a gift from Foster B. Doane, Class of 1917, through the estate of his wife, Sandra Doane Turk. The 29,100 square foot building contains faculty offices and laboratories, seminar rooms, separate laboratories for physical, bioorganic, organic trace, and inor­ganic trace chemistry, research laboratories, preparation rooms, and equipment rooms.

David V. Wise Sport and Fitness Center (1997)
A sports facility with a multi-purpose sports forum, a 210-meter jogging track and a performance arena that seats 960. The Center also features modern facilities for basketball, volleyball, and tennis, as well as personal fitness activities such as aerobics, jogging, stationary bicycling and weight lifting. It is connected to the Mellon Recreation Building. Construction of the Center was made possible by a leadership gift from David V. Wise ’53 and his wife Karen ’69 of Butler, Pennsylvania.

College Court Residence Hall (1997)
Features three townhouse-style buildings housing a total of 77 students. All living areas are suites, with four single bedrooms sharing a common living room and kitchen facilities.

North Village (2006)
The three townhouses that make up North Village are two-story units with a residential neighborhood look and feel. The three buildings include a total of 106 single bedrooms. Each suite of five bedrooms includes a shared living room, two full baths, and full kitchen facilities. North Village was designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for promoting sustainable design in the building industry.

Vukovich Center for Communication Arts (2008)
Named in honor of Allegheny trustee emeritus Robert A. Vukovich ’65 and his wife, Laura, who made the largest gift in the College’s history. A portion of their gift, as well as support from several other generous donors, including the Eden Hall Foundation and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, funded the center. The 40,000-square-foot facility, designed by world-renowned architectural firm Polshek Partnership, was created for teaching theatre, communications and related disciplines. It includes the Gladys Mullenix Black ’54 Theatre, a 250-seat theater for hosting performances and public events, the Barbara Robinson ’48 Green Room, the Dorothy Brennen Miller ’39 Lobby, rehearsal and instructional spaces, technologically advanced video production facilities, the Lee and Sue O’Connor Idleman ’55 Production Wing, and related support spaces including faculty offices, dressing rooms, and scene and costume shops. In keeping with the College’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the center was built into a hillside to increase its energy efficiency, includes expansive windows and skylights that provide passive solar heating and lighting, and features a rooftop garden, Laura’s Garden Terrace, which provides insulation and absorbs rainwater.

454 House (2009)
A complete renovation and 6,600-square-foot expansion of the building at 454 North Main Street, supported by gifts from Bob Woodworth ’69 and Joyce Woodworth; Gary Brost ’74 and Willow (Wilcox) Brost ’74; and estate gifts from Margaret L. Barkley and others. Home to the Admissions and Financial Aid Offices, the campus welcome center features geo-exchange heating and cooling, high-output compact fluo­rescent lighting, waterless urinals, recycled-content building materials, Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood, permeable parking spaces and rain gardens to handle storm-water runoff.

Founders House in Honor of Richard J. Cook and Teresa M. Lahti (2009)
Located at 908 Diamond Park, the property was once home to the log courthouse where Allegheny College and the Meadville Chamber of Commerce were founded. While the original courthouse no longer exists, the newly renovated home at the site serves as a symbol of the strong bonds between the community and the College. It houses the offices of the Chamber as well as the College’s community engagement programs and provides working and meeting space for students, faculty and community partners. It also includes a residence and working space for fifth-year interns and AmeriCorps VISTA members. Financial support for the purchase and renovation of the Founders House was provided by Allegheny trustee Christine Scott Nelson ’73, Jack ’42 and Teen Corey, Henry B. Suhr, Jr. ’55 and Beverly Suhr, the Common­wealth of Pennsylvania, and others.

North Village II (2010)
This four-story residence hall offers apartment-style living and includes a total of 230 single bedrooms. North Village II features both two- and four-bedroom suites, each providing a common area as well as kitchen and bath facilities. An attractive courtyard on the east and entranceway on the west connect the residence hall to the rest of campus. Construct­ed with sustainability in mind, North Village II was built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certifica­tion standards. The facility’s heating and cooling system are fed by 50 on-site geothermal wells.