THE SYNERGIES OF HISTORY AND INNOVATION AT CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE'S WELCOME AND ADMISSIONS CENTER

INTRODUCTION

Founded in 1878, Champlain College ^® is a small, not-for-profit, private college located in an historic residential neighborhood of Burlington, Vermont, with stunning views of Lake Champlain. A national leader in innovative career-driven approaches to higher education, Champlain was named the top “Up-and-Comer” College in U.S. News & World Report's “2014 Best Colleges”. The 2,000 person student body, once largely local, now comes from 41 states and 22 countries. In 2005, anticipating the changes in demographics and planning for new academic and residential facilities, Champlain engaged Goody Clancy to develop a campus master plan followed shortly after by a commission to design a new student Welcome and Admissions Center utilizing an ante-bellum home at the nexus of the campus and the neighborhood. With increasing tension over campus expansion, an open, transparent and inclusive process was essential for both the master plan and the welcome center. This was accomplished with an extensive outreach process involving an active neighbor-college steering committee, public workshops and meetings, an outreach website and regular updates to the community via postcards and newsletters. The Welcome and Admissions Center at Perry Hall is the physical embodiment of Champlain's values and its responsiveness and commitment to the community. The project restored one of the oldest and most intact historic homes in Burlington, added significant modern program space without changing the character of the residential street, used cutting edge technology to meet sustainability goals and created a new outdoor wetland and meadow shared with the local neighborhood. The Welcome and Admissions Center successfully conveys that even as Champlain embraces and transforms the future, it honors and cherishes the past.