News Articles: "College building bridges," "Crew builds bridge to FSC dining hall"; Blueprint: Map plan of bridge construction

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Title

News Articles: "College building bridges," "Crew builds bridge to FSC dining hall"; Blueprint: Map plan of bridge construction

Catalog Entry

These newspaper articles show the process of the Holmes Dining Commons bridge being installed back in July of 2006. The renovations of the Dining Commons and the bridge allowed students to access the building 24-hours a day, as well as made the building fully accessible to people with disabilities. The bridge itself weighs twelve tons and is a little over sixty feet long, and was included in the $6 million project to renovate the dining hall.  Former president Antonucci said, “We’re making a concentrated effort to improve the physical abilities of the campus” (Abbruzzese). This was a huge achievement for Fitchburg State University, as the university was able to improve something that had been a constant problem on campus: accessibility for all.  Before the bridge and Holmes renovations, the university campus was not friendly to people with disabilities. Most of the campus consisted of either stairs, faulty lifts, or long, steep ramps with which even able-bodied people struggled.

Interview with Jay Bry November 1st, 2019

I had the pleasure of meeting with Jay Bry to ask my questions about the Holmes Dining hall and Holmes bridge construction. Jay Bry managed the construction team during the process of building the bridge. The planning of the bridge only took 18 months - 2 years to plan, compared to the ten years of planning of some of the campus’ buildings. This is because when buildings are going through the process of being built, the campus has to get approval, and thoroughly plan out where and how construction will take place, as well as make sure that the campus gets the funding for it. This renovation process happened so quickly not only because the design was fairly easy, but the university had received local funding, meaning they had more control. The whole length of installing the bridge took the summer of 2006; all it took was taking the bridge off a truck via crane and placing it into position.

When the design team proposed the construction of the bridge, one main reason was for accessibility.  Before the Holmes bridge was installed, there was a lift connected to the stairs, which were roughly around 15 feet tall. The design team noticed that the dining hall and the quad elevation were about the same level, and decided to put in the bridge to make Holmes fully accessible from the quad. Prior to the bridge, Fitchburg State University’s campus was not fully handicap accessible. Most of the ramps on campus were not ADA approved; they comprised of paved asphalt which could easily build up ice in the winter and were extremely steep. The ramps were not only dangerous to those who used a wheelchair, but also posed a danger to the abled bodies during the winter seasons.  An example Mr. Bry gave me to inform on how bad accessibility was on campus prior to this renovation was how people with disabilities accessed the Quad from the dining hall.  Prior to the bridge, students with disabilities would have to cross North street, go around Hammond, and through a parking lot to get to the quad, which seems extremely terrifying and dangerous. I asked Mr. Bry on his opinion of why the campus was built with so many unsafe ramps and few accessible buildings, to which he replied along the lines of  “It was really because of the time period. Disabilities weren’t really a focal point in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. The design of the campus was also based on the terrain we have here. We have a very hilly campus so it made sense to put in stairs and ramps.” There was really no emphasis on accessibility during the process of building the campus, and as you can see, the planning was very subpar.

In 2018, Edgerly Hall became the last building on Fitchburg State University’s campus to become accessible to those with disabilities, with the installation of a new elevator. Before the elevator was installed, Edgerly Hall supplied a chair lift that went up and down the staircase, providing access to the second floor of the building. However, this lift was old and took up a lot of space. Along with this, if a person with a disability had a class on the third floor of Edgerly Hall, the teacher would have to move the class to a different building or room that was accessible. Prior to the year 2020, at least one class every semester had to be relocated due to accessibility problems; The spring 2020 semester was the first semester that had no classes relocated.  Along with Edgerly Hall, several other buildings on campus have been renovated to accommodate those with disabilities.  Thompson Hall had its elevator installed in 2001, Hammond Hall was remodelled in 2012 and included new elevators, both Miller Hall and Antonucci Science Complex got elevators in 2013, with the latter having an entire remodel, and Percival Hall got its elevator in 2014.  Prior to these elevator installations, these buildings had noisy and unreliable indoor and outdoor lifts or, in worse cases, only were accessible on specific floors. 

The building of the bridge and the renovations of the dining hall has made a huge, positive impact for students with disabilities on campus.  While the main reason of the bridge was to make the dining hall accessible to students twenty four hours a day, Mr. Bry told me accessibility was also a reason for the construction.  He said that “it is very important to have a campus that is accessible to all.”  The difference between early 2006 Fitchburg State University and today is almost night and day in terms of how accessible it is.  Before, you couldn’t get anywhere on campus without having to deal with steep slopes, horrifying lifts, and stairs blocking your path.  Today, those worries are gone in return for a college campus that is fully accessible to those who need it to be.  In a way, it’s almost as if the newspaper headline, “College building bridges,” was both in literal and metaphorical sense: the college built a literal bridge for the dining hall and also built “bridges” around campus so people with disabilities could have an easier time navigating. 

Bibliography

Abbruzzese, Jason. “College Building Bridges.” Sentinel and Enterprise, 1 Sept. 2006, www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2006/09/01/college-building-bridges/#comments.

Bry, Jay. Personal interview. 1 Nov. 2019. 

Maki, Julie. "Disability Services - A Historical Perspective." Honors English II , 30 Jan. 2020, Fitchburg State University. Class Presentation.

Artifact Owner

Fitchburg State University Disability Services
Fitchburg State University Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library Archives & Special Collections

Artifact Condition

All three artifacts are intact. There is yellowing on the papers, and some curling of papers on the newspapers articles.

Artifact Material

The first two artifacts are from a newspaper article, they were typed and printed on white paper. The third artifact is a map plan of the campus. This artifact is printed on a large sheet. It looks like it could be a copy of the original.

Catalog Entry Author(s)

Yahssyniah Pitts, Student, Fitchburg State University

Editor(s)

Alexander Maggio, Student, Fitchburg State University

Photographer(s)

Yahssyniah Pitts, Student, Fitchburg State University

Collection

Citation

“News Articles: "College building bridges," "Crew builds bridge to FSC dining hall"; Blueprint: Map plan of bridge construction,” Cultural Heritage through Image, accessed March 28, 2024, https://culturalheritagethroughimage.omeka.net/items/show/102.

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