Middlebury College

Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont

Middlebury College, founded in 1800, is the oldest college in Vermont and comprises 173 structures on two campuses. The most venerable group is the Old Stone Row of 1811, based on Yale's Old Brick Row but reflecting the style of local mill buildings. Other campus buildings reflect successive phases of campus architecture in the United States, including Beaux-Arts, Classical, City Beautiful, and Georgian. Funding will support the creation of a comprehensive preservation plan to document the historical character of the campus, analysis of individual buildings and landscape features, and development of recommendations for future use.

Middlebury College received a Getty grant in 2007 for $150,000 to support campus heritage planning.

Report Summary

Purpose: Middlebury College, founded in 1800, is the oldest college campus in Vermont and comprises 173 structures on two campuses. The most venerable group is the Old Stone Row of 1911, based on Yale University’s Old Brick Row but reflecting the style of local mill buildings. Other campus buildings reflect successive phases of campus architecture in the United States.

Historic Designation(s): Emma Willard House (National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmark); Old Stone Row (National Register of Historic Places); Old Chapel and Painter Hall (two separate listings, Historic American Buildings Survey).

The college proposed to create a comprehensive preservation plan to document the historical character of the campus, analyze individual buildings and landscape features, and develop recommendations for future use.

Planning Process: The college formed a Campus Master Plan Committee comprised of architects, engineers, historians, administration, staff, alumni, representatives from the community, and also regional planning officials. The first phase of the master plan effort was a diagnostic, reconnaissance effort that was followed by analysis and investigation of long-term planning goals.

Outcomes—Products: Between 2006 and 2008, the college produced two complementary documents: “Knowledge without Boundaries: The Middlebury College Strategic Plan” and the “Campus Master Plan 2008, Middlebury College.” The former articulates the goals to strengthen and support a diverse student community, strengthen the academic program and foster intensive student-faculty interaction, and reinforce the role of the Commons as a place to bring together academic and residential life. The latter examines sustainability as an integral part of the discussion of long-term planning goals and also includes a civic structure plan for outdoor spaces, in addition to the traditional areas of master planning (regional and campus context, built and natural systems, programs, policies, and implementation).

Outcomes—Strategies and Goals for the Future: The most recent comprehensive document, the campus master plan, is intended to be used as both an instrument and guide for future decision making. Its implementation is dependent on plans of the campus (conveying the overall intent of the college), the district (working effectively at the neighborhood level), and individual sites (with specific requirements for each place). The process for each of these requires the ability to initiate, design, manage, and evaluate the elements of campus development. This overarching plan also recommends that the college develop a financial scenario planning model to track sequence and costs of phasing work over time.