It seems that wherever you look around campus, there are workers putting up or renovating a building or walling off areas to install underground piping for the College’s $500-million energy-efficiency project. Renovations have been completed on several athletic facilities, the sailing team’s Tim and Barbara Michels Family Boathouse on Mascoma Lake is open, and a 2,650-square foot addition to the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse is due to be done by June.
But housing is front and center. An extensive renovation of Fayerweather Hall, which began in June 2024, should be complete this summer. Renewals of Mass Row, the Choates, and the River Cluster are under consideration.
“What’s really transformational,” says Josh Keniston, senior vice president for operations, “is this new residential neighborhood we’re creating on West Wheelock Street.” Construction began in August 2024 on Russo Hall, which will house 285 students; it’s scheduled to open in September.
Click here to enlarge map and explore new buildings (opens .pdf).
“It’s the start of something really exciting, and it’s continuing down the hill,” Keniston says. The five-story Class of 1989 Hall will open in fall 2028. “The class of ’89 came together and shared their experience of how many of them bonded in the residence halls,” he says. “They wanted to pass that on.” Plans include a Top of the Hop-inspired ground-floor lounge and soundproof music and podcast rooms.
Also opening down the street in fall 2028 is five-story Shonda Rhimes Hall. “It’s already being referred to as Shondaland,” quips Keniston, a reference to the production company owned by the ’91 producer-director. Rhimes Hall will connect with Alumnae Hall, initiated by 27 women who each committed $1 million. That five-story hall includes what Keniston describes as “a treehouse reading room that offers views out over the river.” Together, those three halls will house about 400 students.
What’s really transformational is this new residential neighborhood we’re creating on West Wheelock Street.”
—Josh Keniston, senior vice president for operations
These apartment-style projects will bring more juniors and seniors back to campus, Keniston adds. “A lot of our students had moved off campus, not because they wanted to get away from Dartmouth, but they wanted a sense of independent living and there wasn’t the housing available.”
The Alumnae Hall announcement jumpstarted plans to develop a riverfront park, with a sign welcoming people to Dartmouth as they cross Ledyard Bridge into Hanover. The College also is focused on improving safety at the waterfront and swim dock.
Meanwhile, last July the College purchased 18-22 West Wheelock—part of an 11-unit condominium—with plans to expand housing for the College community. And on five acres off Route 10 in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, the new Sugarwood Circle Housing Community will make 21 rental homes available this year for eligible faculty and staff.
