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 On any sunny day in spring or autumn, the expanse of green space that unfolds below Miller Library is sprinkled students
reading, lounging on the grass and playing Frisbee. The quadrangle has for 50
years been Colby's front lawn, site of impromptu parties, photo opportunities,
commencements and, well, people sitting around. Ask virtually any Colby student
what first attracted him or her to the College and the terraced platform on
Mayflower Hill that is the heart of the campus will be mentioned.
From the top of the quad one can see all the way to the Camden Hills 50 miles
away, but it's the view from below that drops jaws. Flanked by Georgian
buildings and sugar maples, the quad rises impressively toward its sentry, the
library, on its green pedestal. When the College was considering sites for the
Lunder House, home of the admissions office through which hundreds of
prospective students pass each year, they chose a spot near a grove of pines
with a panoramic view of the quadrangle.
Because of the quadrangle's central place in Colby's identity--it's the mental
image alumni often retain most vividly--its aesthetic quality is of more than
token interest. So when College officials wanted advice about how to
incorporate the new F.W. Olin Science Center into the quadrangle, they turned
to Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Cambridge, Mass., landscape architects
who two years ago designed a new master plan for Harvard Yard. Van
Valkenburgh's task was larger than the assimilation of a new building, however.
The situation facing Colby is similar to Harvard's--a monoculture, in this
case, sugar maples, has reached the end of its life span, threatening the
character of the College's most important green space. The quadrangle without
trees? Unimaginable.
Administrative Vice President W. Arnold Yasinski says that the College
recognized an opportunity both to ease in the Olin building and preserve the
long-term beauty of the quadrangle. Using Van Valkenburgh's designs, Colby will
complete this summer a $300,000 landscaping project that includes reforesting
the quad. There will be more trees and more species of trees. Red oaks, red
maples and a hardier species of sugar maples are being planted in tidy rows on
either side of the quadrangle. Flowering crabapple trees will form small
orchards in front of the Olin building and the Eustis parking lot. Benches are
being added in strategic places, and a "sitting wall" is being erected near the
library entrance. A new terrace cut into the lower section of the quad will
help balance the "weight" of the Olin building, located opposite the Eustis
parking area.
"We wanted to soften the ends of the quadrangle and add more color," Yasinski
said, explaining the crabapple orchards and the additional terracing. "Most
important, we wanted to replace the monocultures we now have with more
diversity and create a shade canopy that would not hide our buildings."
By acting now, the College has avoided losing its entire tree canopy at once,
Yasinski says, and the new plantings should ensure that such a scenario would
not occur in the future. "We want to always have mature trees along the quad,"
he said.
Future generations of Colbians no doubt will be grateful.
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