Linfield develops former Hewlett-Packard property
May 24, 2001 Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon, Portland
It’s not often that a
college campus can double in size virtually overnight.
That’s precisely what happened at Linfield College in McMinnville in 1998. The private Christian college expanded from 78 acres to 193, the result of a gift and purchase agreement with neighboring Hewlett-Packard Co.
Today, Linfield is in the midst of an ambitious capital campaign, “Linfield – The Defining Moment.” The $65 million capital campaign earmarks $43.7 million for renovation and construction projects that will provide additional space for existing programs and bump the student population up from 1,550 students to 1,750.
Plans center around a 17-acre developed section of the former Hewlett-Packard property – named the Keck Campus – that contains 106,000 square feet of existing building space. The four buildings on the Keck Campus will be remodeled, in addition to new construction.
The decade-long project consists of three phases, beginning with remodeling of two adjoining buildings for the art department, currently underway.
The second phase will entail expansion of the library and the theater; the third phase will be construction of a new music department facility
.
Carl Vance, vice president for finance and administration at Linfield, anticipates completion of all phases by 2009. The construction and endowment campaign, underway for several years, should be completed in 2002, Vance said.
Carl Vance, vice president for finance and administration at Linfield, anticipates completion of all phases by 2009. The construction and endowment campaign, underway for several years, should be completed in 2002, Vance said.
“We’d love all construction to be finished as soon as possible,” said Vance, “but it’s really in the hands of fund raisers and in how quickly we can obtain the necessary monies.”
So far, donations keep pouring in, including a $2.3 million gift from James F. Miller, a retired Portland stockbroker and philanthropist. Miller, who received an honorary doctorate degree from Linfield in 1998, “has been a friend of the college over the last decade,” said Lee Howard, vice president for college relations. In his honor, Linfield will name the new fine arts facility the James F. Miller Arts Center.
Currently, two adjoining buildings on the Keck Campus, totaling 15,400 square feet, are being remodeled to provide larger space for arts instruction and exhibitions by Linfield art students and faculty.
Pence/Kelly Contractors is in charge of the renovation, which is 60 percent finished and on schedule for completion by July 15. The facility will be open for use in the fall.
“The new fine arts center will enhance the learning environment by providing, for the first time, separate studios for such media as drawing, sculpture, painting and printmaking,” said Linfield President Vivian A. Bull. “Faculty and student interaction outside of the classroom will also be improved by locating faculty office-studios directly in the midst of student work areas.”
The heart of the new arts facility will be a 1,400-square-foot gallery for student and faculty shows as well as traveling exhibits. Designed as a raw space with ultimate flexibility, the area will provide an outstanding display environment and will serve as an appropriate place for receptions and visiting artists’ functions. A smaller gallery will provide 500 square feet of flexible exhibition space dedicated to student work. An outdoor courtyard at the entrance will provide additional exhibit space, and will serve as an important gathering place for the Keck Campus.
The arts facility will include an all-night café and study area where students can study, socialize or relax. A new electronic media lab shared by the Department of Art and the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts will accommodate 12 work stations specifically equipped with hardware and software to support the graphic design needs of those departments’ curricula. An additional all-night general college computer lab, with 18 work stations, is planned near the café.
Once completed, the new art department facilities will be the first phase of the Arts Quadrangle, which will anchor the Keck Campus. New facilities for the $14.7 million library and Theatre and Communication Arts Department will be housed in the largest building on the property.
Phase three, a new $10 million music building, will complete the quadrangle. Currently, the art and music departments share a building.
No contractor has been selected for the second or third phases of the project, Howard said.
According to Howard, Hewlett-Packard in 1998 closed its McMinnville plant and moved its medical instruments manufacturing facility to New York. The high-tech company donated about 81 acres of vacant property worth $7.9 million; Linfield paid $8.4 million for the remaining 34 acres of property and buildings.
Virtually all of the improvements are being funded from private donations, alumni, foundations, corporations and trustees. The W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles donated $5 million toward purchase of the 17 improved acres that are now referred to as the Keck Campus.
The college is still raising funds before the library and theater renovation work can begin.
The buildings on the Keck Campus are about 25 years old and are in good shape, according to Vance. Hewlett-Packard used them for research and development.
“I really don’t know of a higher education institution that has had the opportunity to more than double its size with property adjacent to it,” said Howard. “We’re not creating new programs, but are providing improvements for programs that are already excellent, but the facilities are less than desirable.”
Linfield College, with its American Baptist roots, was chartered in 1858. The gracefully aging campus has already completed a number of other projects, recently dedicating five new, high-tech residence halls for upperclassmen. The college also completed a new commons building and converted the observatory into a convenience store.
“The opportunity is for the next 100 years but it has to be paid for now. It’s something we simply could not afford not to do,” Howard said.
