Spatial Oddity

Published September 10, 2007

By Peter Casasa-Blouin

I am a patient student who feels that the erection of the Davis Center on 590 Main Street was well worth the wait. Although it overwhelms and dwarfs even a growing student body, it feels like it belongs there, especially considering it muckled (I like the word) itself onto an infamous Terrill Building. This juxtaposition of old school UVM and new school expansionism is just one of the many oddities of this massive structure. We are passing through its halls and ascending its stairways as if it had always been there, and it hasn’t even been completed. Students sit cross-legged in cavernous lounges while their minds compete with traffic and construction. It seems that a crane is as natural on campus as a tree.

But despite being off limits for a few more months there are things in the Davis Center one can appreciate, utilize and most importantly laugh at.

As you may have heard it is a low emissions building. It stakes a claim to Vermont’s moral standard but there are fake fireplaces on the second and third floors. One is located in an abstract lounge that most people are too busy or confused to find while the other is nestled in the Artisan coffee shop. Clearly, New England kitsch overcomes even the greenest of standards.

These fireplaces could be aesthetically valuable if it weren’t for the disarray of back packs in the coffee shop and the general obscurity of the lounge. If you find this fireplace you have gone through an unnecessary pair of double doors to the left of Cat Pause that leads to the widest stairway on campus. More than likely you will have all three staircase avenues to yourself, and the “super secret” fireplace is just past the gender neutral bathroom.

While I advocate the causes behind and understand conceptually the gender neutral bathroom, it strikes me that students who barely make it to class are provided showers in the bathrooms of their student center. I understand that UVM is trying to promote non-vehicular commuting (walking/biking) but are there cots too? I’m not suggesting that any one sleeps there, but it’s baffling that one can perform most of life’s essential functions in the Davis Center.

Buying books is not essential for most Americans but as college students it is – sadly – a must. With that in mind, why did they make it so difficult to find, buy, or return a book? It should be noted that there is a door on the 2nd floor that could lead directly to the textbook section. Friends have complained about their transactions’ being turned into wild goose chases, but I just read the books in the bookstore preemptively circumventing their sly tricks.

The dining options in the building are supremely intriguing to me, because they are disassociated from Sodexho. New World Tortilla and Brennan’s are “regular” vendors that capitalize on their proximity to students and their wallets. Fortunately, a “ Dry Campus” provides quesadillas and beer for meal points and Cat$cratch.

Next time you find yourself dazed by the Davis Center, recall some of the lighter aspects of a building that has been a crater in the center of campus for two years. At least try to take advantage of the hidden fireplaces, commuter showers, and the general scenery before you pass too harsh of judgment on the centerpiece of the new UVM.

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