Editorial : Crouse-Hinds expansion would enhance SU’s first impression
Current students may not feel the effects of the stalled plans to update and refurbish Crouse-Hinds Hall. But the multimillion dollar addition will greatly improve Syracuse University’s first impression to thousands of prospective students and important visitors.
A member of SU’s Board of Trustees donated the money for the Couri Visitor Center and Museum, an addition to the admissions building across the street from Newhouse III. The addition’s announcement came in May 2008, but construction has been delayed time and time again, largely because a poor economy has impeded fundraising efforts for the center.
The visitor center would include vast glass walls, interactive maps and media about the history of the university. Most importantly, the center would serve as a gateway and an architectural introduction to the campus.
Crouse-Hinds Hall stands among the biggest eyesores on campus and offers no redeeming design or function. Tucked away in the corner of campus, the plain brick admissions building filters about 35,000 visitors a year. Though its dirty, rugged student study spaces certainly won’t make or break a student’s decision to come to SU, an attractive entryway may make a difference on the visitor’s experience and certainly on his or her first impression.
Each of the other schools can show off hallways, atriums, magnificent organs, state-of-the-art labs or other features that cater to the specific interests and tastes of its prospective students. But the stalled addition to the admissions building would provide a space to unite and highlight the university as a whole in a centralized way. Even regardless of the gadgets or art installments, simply cleaning up the stale-looking facade with a more dynamic design would greatly improve what is now one of the ugliest buildings on campus.
