Topping Off Ceremony

NMH Tops Off Arts Center

GILL, MA—The Northfield Mount Hermon School held a topping off ceremony May 4 when the topmost iron beam, signed by the NMH community and the construction crew, was put into place at The Rhodes Center for the Arts. The event is a tradition among ironworkers, and, in keeping with tradition, a small fir tree was hoisted up onto the bones of the building to signify good luck for those who will occupy it. An American flag also was raised.

Ground for the arts center was broken in the fall of 2006. It is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008. Here are some more facts about The Rhodes Center for the Arts:

· Architects: Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc. (CBT), of Boston, MA
· 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. Here, the center for the arts will provide a visible image of the “new campus” identity, redefine the landscape and academic quad, create community as it sits along current student paths, and take advantage of shared parking in support of our plan to pedestrianize the center of campus.
· Unique design features: 1) An interior “street” that runs on an axis through all three levels, connecting the different parts of the building; 2) a tower that echoes Blake Hall, Memorial Chapel, and the towers of Northfield; 3) will be LEED certified, meaning green building practices are being employed.

Summary of significant program spaces:

· Music
250-seat concert hall
Recital hall and choral rehearsal (aka jewel box)
Instrument rehearsal
Music classroom
Electronic music studio
Practice rooms (9)
· Dance
80-seat dance practice and performance studio (aka studio theater or “black box theater”)
Dance studio (practice studio)
Costume shop (shared)
· Theatre
250-seat end-stage theater
80-seat studio theater (aka “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