Google Map of Upcoming Changes at Hood College

We created an interactive Google Map showing what kind of changes Hood College plans to make. This way, residents are more easily able to see the changes and how the changes may relate to their homes and nearby streets. You can zoom this map and click on each blue box for further information.

A caveat: the dimensions and measurements are extremely approximate, and should be taken with a (small) grain of salt! Any updates will be reflected in this map.


View Larger Map

Hood President Volpe's Oct. 1 Invitation

Some neighbors had not gotten the Sept. 16, 2008 letter from Hood College President Volpe inviting residents to an Oct. 1, 2008 breakfast meeting to discuss the College's upcoming changes. We're reprinting the letter in its entirety below:

Dear Hood College Neighbor,

Please join me and members of my senior staff for a special Presidential Breakfast for Neighbors on Wednesday, October1, 2008, from 7:30 to 9:00 am in the Whitaker Campus Commons. My staff and I will share with you recent developments at the College and our plans for the future.

As you may know, the past year has been another exciting one for Hood. In October our Board of Trustees will consider how the College will address future housing and parking needs on campus. As our neighbor, you are a very important constituency, and we would like to keep you informed. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to remain a good neighbor.

I hope you can join us for this breakfast meeting on October 1. Please R.S.V.P. to Zoe Welsh at (301) 696-3130 or welshz@hood.edu.

Sincerely,

Ronald J. Volpe, Ph.D.

President

Hood College plans new buildings and parking lots

According to a Master Plan approved by the Hood College Board of Trustees in June of 2007, Hood College plans to add:

• two sets of townhouse-style dorms along Magnolia Avenue (demolishing two houses at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Belmont Avenue)
• several tennis courts in between the two sets of dorms along Magnolia Avenue
• an aquatics center just to the east of the townhome-style dorms
• a 100-space parking lot between Gambrill Hall and Hodson Science and Technology Center (replacing the tennis courts there)
• two residence halls on either side of Coblentz Hall
• a 100-space parking lot to the east of Coblentz Hall near Hospital Drive
• additional entrances / exits on Hospital Drive
• an extension of Hospital Drive to Park Avenue
• an all-season turf NCAA playing field and bleachers just to the north of Coblentz Hall
  
• a recreation, education, athletics, and convocation facility near Hospital Drive and 7th Street
  
• a softball dugout and bleachers along 7th Street
• landscaping along Rosemont Avenue

In addition, according to the Master Plan, Hood College plans to:

• relocate Williams Observatory closer to Magnolia Avenue and Atlantic Avenue
• renovate Gambrill Hall as a recreation center

Click to see a larger version of this photo

This Master Plan is on display on a stand in Alumnae Hall. As neighbors of Hood College, we are concerned about the expansion. How many additional students will the new dorms house? Where will they park? How much light and noise pollution will result on the side streets near Hood College? Where will the construction traffic flow? What will the impact be of the additional students and service vehicles to the surrounding area?

To answer our questions, President Volpe and his staff will meet with residents at a breakfast session on October 1. Please attend if you are interested, and if you cannot and you have questions or concerns, please leave comments on this blog or email your questions at hood-neighbors@comcast.net. In addition, please join the Hood Neighbors mailing list by emailing hoodneighbors@comcast.net. Hope to see you at the October 1st breakfast session.

Additional photos with closer views of the Master Plan will be posted on this blog soon, as well as any additional information we receive.