News and Events : News 05-06 Press Release

NMH Breaks Ground on The Rhodes Center for the Arts

GILL, MA—NMH held a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 10 to begin constructing a $29 million facility to support its burgeoning arts program. The Rhodes Center for the Arts, a three-tiered structure built into the gently sloping grounds and overlooking Brush Mountain, will house performance and visual art spaces. An interior “street” will run on an axis through all three levels, connecting the spaces. The center will be topped by a tower that echoes Blake Hall, Memorial Chapel, and the towers of Northfield. And the building will be LEED certified, meaning it will meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Last spring, NMH received a lead gift of $5 million from William R. Rhodes ’53, chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees. In honor of this gift, the new arts center will be named The Rhodes Center for the Arts as a continuous reminder of his and his father’s (Edward R. Rhodes ’16) faithful service to the school.

More Facts and Figures

Architects: Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc. (CBT), of Boston, MA
Schedule: target completion fall 2008
Size: 63,000 square feet on three levels
Cost: $29 million
Site plan: The facility will be located on the eastern edge of campus between Holbrook Hall and Forslund Gymnasium, where Recitation and Silliman Halls once stood.

Summary of significant program spaces

Music
250-seat concert hall
Recital hall and choral rehearsal (a.k.a. jewel box)
Instrument rehearsal
Music classroom
Electronic music studio
Practice rooms (9)

Dance
80-seat dance practice and performance studio (a.k.a. studio theater or “black box theater”)
Dance studio (practice studio)
Costume shop (shared)

Theatre
250-seat end-stage theater
80-seat studio theater (a.k.a. “black box theater” or dance practice and performance studio)

Visual Arts
Painting and drawing studio
Digital and video design studio
2D design studio
Printmaking studio
Ceramics studio
Photography studio
Portfolio/exhibition preparation space & classroom
Teaching and professional galleries

CONTACT: Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357, ksnyder@nmhschool.org

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