Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Elizabeth Van Huysen Mayer Campus Center, 1983
The Elizabeth Van Huysen Mayer Campus Center, located on the Medford campus, was built from 1983 to 1985 to serve as a central gathering point for students, and also to act as a link between the uphill and downhill sections of campus. | |
On May 9, 1983, groundbreaking took place for the construction of the Mayer Campus Center. It had been perhaps the longest-awaited construction project in the history of Tufts University. The first call for the construction of a campus center had come in 1913, when then Dean of Liberal Arts Frank G. Wren stated that Tufts needed a gathering point for students and student activities. Calls for the center continued until, by 1976, even the faculty was agitating for its construction. By this time, a joint committee of students and administrators had been formed to look into the financial feasibility of constructing a new campus center. Moved forward in part by an anonymous grant of $1.25 million in 1980, the plans for the Mayer Campus Center were finalized in 1982. | |
Built on the former site of the Brown-Durkee House and Graves House, and designed by architects Patrick J. Walsh and Sons, the Mayer Campus Center held its grand opening on February 1, 1985. It houses two small restaurants, the Student Activities office, ATM machines, a coffee bar, meeting rooms, a lounge, and a central information booth. | |
The Mayer Campus Center continues in 2000 to serve as useful resource and busy gathering place for members of the Tufts community. | |
Source: OBS, TJ, BG#004 | |
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