Allegheny Student Government

I know it is very small scale, but the back of the Brooks/Walker complex does not look very appealing from Park Avenue. The shutters are in desperate need of paint and more can be done all around to beautify that section of campus. The same can be said for the pillars in front of Arter.

Unfortunately, I don't really have the capability to "think small," as you suggest, but I do have some suggestions.

As an English major, I have the grand privilege of trekking up to Oddfellows three times a day. As a reward for this excursion, it'd be nice to see a building that is at least a little bit aesthetically pleasing. Oddfellows, aside from its interesting architecture, is anything but this. There is paint peeling off of nearly every windowsill, and the building's condition just seems to be absent of any real effort in keeping it presentable. As such, I feel like the building needs a pretty serious face-lift. I think my fellow English/Philosophy studying peers would agree!

Also, I'm really disappointed with how the concrete steps/railings are holding up at the new Vukovich building. I mean, this thing isn't even a year old! Should it really be deteriorating already? I know Meadville's got some harsh weather, but is it too much to ask that a concrete platform hold up for a few years?

Another thing to point out, the front of Walker has been criticized a number of times by both prospective students on tours and by parents of my residents. The building is not appealing to students and I have heard from tour guides that they get direct questions about why some of the buildings look the way they do (chipped paint, broken shutters, etc).
My last remark would be about the installation of recycling/composting containers around campus. Not only does this highlight our commitment to environmental integrity but it also is an outlet to develop the aesthetics of Allegheny.

I'm agreeing with what has already been said. Oddfellows could definitely use a bit of a facelift (or a major overhaul). And the Park Avenue side of campus is definitely not very aesthetically pleasing.

A lot of people (both prospective students and parents, alumni, etc.) enter Campus from Park Avenue. It might be nice to have some type of "entry" or marker near Park/Loomis to welcome people to campus.

And, on a similar note, I think that it would be nice to re-do the entry marker on North Main, as well. It's not terrible (by any means), but it's really not impressive either. For a 195 year old institution that is reputed as one of the best liberal arts schools in the country, it might be nice to have something more than a meager brick display with a couple of plants and spotlights.

On another small note:

The patio outside of Schultz/Admissions is obviously a very nice area, but I think it could be improved even more by simply replacing the gravel (in those circles) with some plants...or even by bringing back the fountain that allegedly stood there before I arrived as a student. The gravel just looks out of place in an area that is otherwise landscaped so well.

Also...and I hate to even bring up this topic (because I know that a few might try to use it as a jumping point to argue for a smoking ban)...But I think that we could do a much better job of placing cigarette disposal units across campus.

Cigarette butts lying on the ground on campus are just an eyesore. I don't think there's anyone who would disagree with that.

But I think that part of the reason they end up there (at least in a lot of cases) is because there just aren't enough disposal units placed near sidewalks and outside of building entrances and exits. If we had more of these, I think that less cigarettes would end up on the ground.

People are going to smoke regardless of what anyone says or does...but we can at least try to prevent it from blemishing the campus or even becoming an eyesore in certain spots.

Similarly, I think that there just aren't enough trash cans on campus in general. There are obviously trash cans inside all of the buildings...but if we want to cut down on litter, it would be nice if there were a few more positioned along the sidewalks and near places where people sit and hang out. And it would be GREAT if there were recycling units beside the trash cans, as well.

Maybe this is too much foreshadowing, but the college has an approach to the eyesore that is Park Avenue side of campus--they are rerouting traffic over to North Main (intentionally away from the Mead Inn) and investing a great deal in improving the scenery from Diamond Park up. The biggest change we will see now is the shift of admissions from Parkside to Mainside, and the filling in of the circle as a walking path. I think that's a great idea, but one thing that should be fixed is the parking situation behind Oddfellows if that is going to serve as the parking for admissions. This should detract from the beautiful OX building and Oddfellows itself if done well.

Those should be the priorities though it will probably lead to more negligence toward parkside.

In the winter, I'm always a bit surprised by how icy some of the walkways are and it seems salt doesn't make it to them (despite falling, I don't mind too much but other students often complain). Also, the icicles that form on the college buildings are a safety hazard that could be fixed by correctly insulating the roofs, though I don't know how accessible the job would be given the age of the architecture. It would save on energy bills also, but only off the baseline so the difference is marginal.

Deadly icicles on Brooks are often right above the one doorway. This always scares me!!!

The following is a request that pertains less to the greater community than to the campus...

Can we please have a practice room for non-majoring musicians? I'm still trying to understand how a liberal arts college has absolutely zero space for a practicing band. I think playing even loud guitar in the dorms is rude (it mostly depends on how bad the guitarist is though), but when percussion enters the conversation, the college really needs to provide a suitable space.

I would like to start off saying that I was downtown the other day and one of the townspeople that I was talking to told me that something needed to be done with the shutters on the Park Avenue side of Brooks and Walker, and she wanted to know who she could complain to up at the college. I guess I never noticed it as much but in talking to her and reading some of the other comments I would have to say that I agree something needs to be done to improve these shutters and the whole Park Avenue side of campus.
Now that being said I am not really in favor of just trying to draw more focus on the North Main part of campus. I think that is just a temporary cure and I know for myself at least I want the whole college to look nice, appealing, and inviting not just one part of it. If I were buying a car I would not just buy it because the front looked nice. I would look that car over inside and out before I decided to invest in it and I am sure that thoughts similar run through the minds of prospective students when they are trying to decide what type of school they want to invest in.
Another thing that I would like to see on campus is maybe some type of bench close to North Main that will allow for students to wait for the CATA buses when riding downtown. Even better would be some kind of shelter but that may be asking too much and may not be aesthetically pleasing, but at least a bench or two. I mean we have it so students can ride the bus free, but then they have to stand out there for awhile to wait for it in the rain or snow. This in itself, may be another way to promote downtown.
One last enhancement that could be worked on is a better communication system between the college and the downtown. Somehow we should work on giving the downstown business people an easy way to advertise other than the I Heart Meadville board right in the walkway into the Campus Center. Lets try to promote events to each other. Maybe we could promote some of the downtown events on a type of Chompergram. I know this takes both parties participation, but we must start somewhere. Another thing that may be helpful is for the college to get a better system to let the downtown businesses and people to know either when there are events open to the public up at the college and when there are large events especially over the summer and homecoming weekend when a lot of people will be coming to town. I have had many downtowns people want to know when there will be large numbers of people coming to Allegheny, because whether or not we acknowledge it these visitors do travel downtown and if the businesses know in advance there could be possibility for special promotions and these business people would be ready for the influx of customers.

One last thing, I know this is probably wishful thinking, but I think it would be great if there were some sort of all day event that allowed for the downtown community to mingle with the college community. I think a perfect place for this would be down in the diamond. Especially with the Founder's House going to be there this will be a neutral ground between the two.

One other thing, I also agree that the Welcome to Allegheny College signs could be fixed up. I know that there is one on Park that could use a new paint job and there is a sign out on 27 that says Allegheny College and it is almost brown from rust. I do not know if this is the college's sign or the city's, but I was embarrassed to see that it had my college's name on it when it was in that poor condition.