Alums, profs urge caution in restoring colleges

COURTESY ROBERT IRVING Plans for the Berkeley dining hall include a balcony that historians and alumni argue would compromise the Gothic character.

By Kate Feather

While Berkeley students will certainly have no qualms about returning to their college in the fall, several alumni and academics alike are up in arms about the renovations themselves--particularly the addition of a balcony to the wood-paneled Gothic dining hall.

"I believe the architect's rendering is misleading," said George Hersey, GRD '64, professor emeritus of architectural history. "I think it's going to be a great big monster."

Opinions about Berkeley's new balcony are not uniformly negative--they range from irate to enthusiastic. Many alumni and academics are concerned that the balcony will disrupt the Gothic design intended by original architect James Gamble Rogers.

History Chair and former Berkeley Master Robin Winks was also upset by the changes in the dining hall. "The proposed balcony was not well done, and I think it will disrupt the upward Gothic view intended in the dining hall," he said. "It is unfortunate that in the first college to be renovated
such a mistake has been made." At the
same time, the balcony has its supporters. "Have you seen the new balcony? They've started putting it in, and I think it looks wonderful," Berkeley Dean Laurence Winnie said.

Winnie accused those opposed to the new balcony of failing to understand the changing needs of students. "There are people at Yale who would like to see everything remain just the way it was when they were here," he said. He pointed out that there are numerous positives a new balcony can bring. It could, for example, be used for everything from dining to string quartet performances.

Still, there is at least one point the two sides can agree on. Historians and administrators alike acknowledge that that this is an issue worth examining, because the renovations of the other colleges to follow will be affected by these decisions.

Administrators continue to take a defensive stance and assert that fellows and students were privy to the planning process. "Each college has had an advisory group, and every group has involved student representatives," University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, said. "All the plans
go before the University Housing Council, another group with student rep-
resentatives, and the plans are carefully scrutinized by internal architects as well as
the Corporation Buildings and Grounds Committee."

COURTESY ROBERT IRVING The old Berkeley dining hall was appreciated for its stark, Gothic interior.

Despite their involvement in the process, faculty and alumni charge that they had little say in the changes made to the Berkeley common areas. "The architect took questions from the fellows; however, the presentation itself was ineffective, and there was no sense of exchange," said English Professor and Berkeley Fellow Fred Robinson. That said, Robinson felt that fellows should not have a right to affect decisions about renovations.

Winks, on the other hand, argued that the fellows should have had a larger say in design decisions concerning the college. "The process of consultation was quite imperfect," he said. According to Winks, about 20 fellows complained that the architect provided only vague sketches for their consultation. They received a letter from the Provost addressing the issue, though they never felt they received an adequate explanation for the new balcony. "I feel I've had the opportunity to be heard, but I've never been answered," Winks said.

Other opponents of the plan base their objections to the renovation process on the damage that would be done from an architectural history standpoint. "There is no design standards committee," Hersey said. "They should have such a committee made up of representatives of the Architecture School, the history of art department, the Art School and someone like Gaddis Smith [PC '54, GRD '61] who understands the
history of Yale.

"The Administration that makes these decisions often has little information. They don't know the history of every building," he added. Hersey maintained that such a committee could have provided administrators with information about the architectural significance of each building.

Robinson said he favored the creation
of a renovation design committee composed of experts on architectural history. "This committee should not be invested with
any veto power, but rather serve to
inform the President and other decision-
makers," he said.

Charles Walker, ENG '48, a former Berkeley College Master, acknowledged the difficulty of renovating the colleges. "My attitude about the colleges is that they are there for the ages," he said. "I've seen the drawings--the renovations are a tough balancing act."

Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art Vincent Scully, JE '40, GRD '49, sided with the critics of the balcony. "What happens in great buildings is that people have learned to live in them," Scully said. "We should learn to live in the buildings as they are. We need to adjust our way of living." But Scully added that
the University should heed the opinions of academics. "We should be very
slow to change a beautiful buil-
ding," he said.

Architectural Historian and Berkeley Associate Fellow Robert Irving,
BK '62, GRD '74, said that it may be possible for restoration and modernization to be achieved simultaneously. "I would like to see modern facilities in the basement and scrupulous restoration above ground," Irving said. "When we approach renovations we should think: how can we retain the intrinsic character of the building while modernizing it?"

Irving suggested that Yale follow
the example of Harvard's renovation of Harvard Yard. This renovation--which won several awards, including one from the National Trust for Historic Preservation--included handicapped access through which Harvard accomplished very unobtrusive change to meet state regulations. "The Yard is on the National Historic Register, therefore any work must be approved by the Cambridge Historic Commission," said Philip Parsons, former director of planning at Harvard. "The university was committed to doing this well, because it recognized that the Yard is important to the university's reputation."

Parsons said he sympathizes with those urging Yale to proceed cautiously in their renovations to the residential colleges. "These historical buildings can be seen as a burden, but if they are restored well, they take on meaning for the students."

Winnie, though enthusiastic about the changes in Berkeley, acknowledged Yale's unique difficulties in trying to preserve buildings of architectural value while simultaneously modernizing them. "There will always be a point of contention over these renovations, because they are not simple restorations," he said.

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