The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: News & Features

Media Credit: Madison Gouzie

Media Credit: Courtesy of Pat Murphy An updated view of the Mary Low entrance

It seems the physical campus is perpetually in a state of improvement, makeover, even facelift. Students may have noticed new benches, signs and trash cans that use black metal frames to complement Mayflower Hill's bucolic aesthetic. These new additions to the scenery are part of the College's second Campus Landscaping Master Plan, which began in September of 2004.

The first Master Plan was born in the year 2000 and took several years to complete, bringing us the Colby Green among other changes. The current plan also has a separate Master Plan that deals specifically with plantings, according to Patricia Murphy, Director of the Physical Plant Department. New plants and trees are slated to be added to the academic quad in front of Miller Library and the foliage in some areas will be thinned out. The plant life that obscures the views of some of the residence halls on Roberts row will be trimmed to increase visibility. Overgrown and overmature plants will also be removed.

"Most campuses need to periodically stop and a.
k 'where are we going? What do we want the campus to look like overall?,'" Murphy said. The College commissioned an outside consultant to select which signs matched the look of the rest of campus. The landscaping firm Reed Hilderbrand designed the landscape Master Plan and coordinated the look of all the elements. "You wouldn't see us do something very modern on this campus," Murphy said of the simple black iron design. "We wanted something that complements what we already have."

The guidelines for planting that the Master Plan will adhere to specify that the College avoid invasive species, use both deciduous and evergreen species and use plantings that thrive in the Maine environment with as little human intervention as possible. According to the guidelines, the plantings will have year-round appeal and preserve the existing character of the grounds.

The new benches first appeared for commencement in 2006. Some of them will feature ash trays to encourage students to move away from the buildings if they wish to smoke, though some benches will remain smoke free. The signs can be found marking each parking lot, designating speed limits along Mayflower Hill Drive and naming buildings with royal blue and white lettering. Also included in the plans are black iron street lights.

Murphy cited the black hand rails that line the outdoor stairways all across campus as precedent for the new look. When envisioning the changes to the grounds, a committee featuring faculty, staff, students and three representatives from PPD examined "what do we have on campus that we like? What creates the character of this campus?" Dale DeBlois, environmental program manager at PPD who is in charge of executing the Master Plan, was unavailable for comment at press time.

The College has made the landscaping programs central in meetings with the Board of Trustees, where Murphy has discussed the new directions the campus is taking in shape, size and appearance.

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