By Sofia Montoya-Deck
Hood College is planning to add 92 new parking spaces on campus next year, part of a broader campus renovation plan that includes repurposing historic buildings such as Gambrill Gymnasium and renovating residence halls.
Construction of the 92 permanent parking spaces will entail paving 65 spaces in the gravel lot and creating 27 additional spaces. The new spaces will be located on the land where Carson and Strawn cottages once stood. The demolition of the cottages began on July 19th and 22nd, respectively. The demolition of both buildings was completed by Aug. 1.
Plans for the removal of the cottages date back to 2015 and the college’s master plan. The college had hoped to use the space to expand the parking lot but was restricted by a historic preservation overlay (HPO) placed on Strawn Cottage by the city’s historic preservation commission.
The HPO was eventually debated before the Frederick major and board of aldermen. At a public town hall meeting on Oct. 5, 2023, the board of aldermen voted 4-1 in favor of dismissing the HPO. This verdict allowed Hood to move forward with plans to raze Strawn.
“The plan is to build the proposed parking next summer,” Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Rob Klinedinst said. The planned parking lot is still awaiting review from the city in order for Hood to obtain a permit.
The last planning commission meeting was held Aug. 12 in which everything was approved by the commission and sent to the city offices for review. The committee hopes to gain approval by mid-October; however, work on the parking lot will likely not commence until students leave in May.
The work will take an estimated 16 weeks to complete. “Right now, the contractors are reviewing the drawings, working on the final pricing for the project and phasing it,” Klinedinst said.
The project has been underway for over two years and was designed by the landscape architect firm Derck and Edson. “Everything got slowed down because of the review process with the city and the historical nature of the two buildings,” Klinedinst explained.
The college is looking forward to pursuing other projects in the upcoming future as well. “We have lots of ideas,” Klinedinst said. “We’re looking at new plans for Gambrill to retain it and repurpose it instead of tearing it down.”
“The experience with Strawn and Carson was definitely educational for the college,” Klinedinst said. “Any building that is over 50 years old has to go through a review process at the city.” Because Gambrill Gymnasium is over 50 years old, it would be very difficult to tear it down.
A feasibility study is currently being conducted in regard to converting Gambrill to a dining hall, which would potentially include an addition to the building, as well as repurposing efforts. “If that works, then the plan would be to build a gym in the back of Coblentz to meet needs for athletics, recreation and wellness on campus,” Klinedinst said. “From a phasing perspective, it would be easier to prepare a new facility for dining as opposed to renovating one while it’s an active dining facility.”
The college also plans to move forward with the restoration of Brodbeck Hall and the Hodson science expansion project. The latter project originally called for the annex aside Hodson to be torn down. However, due to its historical nature, the annex will instead be repurposed as science and technology spaces.
“There is also a housing master plan, and that plan was to do a Memorial-like renovation project every other year in the remaining buildings: Smith, Shriner, Meyran and Coblentz,” Klinedinst added. “What the board has decided to do is to try and do some improvements in all of those four remaining buildings sooner rather than wait.”
The college’s updated plan would give residents a shorter waiting time before experiencing improved facilities in their residence halls. “We’re working on plans in terms of what to do in each building and every building is a little different,” Klinedinst said. “We assessed all of them and identified projects we think will have the biggest impact.”
According to Klinedinst, bathrooms and lounges will be target areas, as well as other priorities such as accessibility into Smith and a new elevator in Meyran.
“There’s lots of needs everywhere on campus and we’re just trying to balance everything and come up with the right sort of approach to addressing all the needs,” Klinedinst said.
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