The Campus Chronicle
Vol. XVIII, Issue 11
for the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts
November 8, 2002

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After 50-plus years, University Club tries on some new shades

Historic hues replace familiar white paint

By Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

Fred Orwat, of Darland Construction in Chicopee, paints the University Club. (Stan Sherer photo)

Fred Orwat, of Darland Construction in Chicopee, paints the University Club. (Stan Sherer photo)

Even longtime members of the campus community probably haven't seen the University Club get a fresh paint job before; staff in Facilities Planning guess it hasn't been done for more than half a century. But over the last few weeks, scraping, caulking, sill repair, and - yes - painting have taken place at the home of the Faculty Club on Stockbridge Road.

     Principally made up of two of the oldest homes in Amherst, the Stockbridge House, built in 1728, and the Homestead House, built in 1731, the club is now a slate-blue-gray with a light trim of the same hue and dark red accents on its sills and doors.

     "On old houses in New England, you find a lot of red doors, even though the color was expensive back then," said Marty Smith, manager of Planning and Architecture at Facilities Planning.

     Although the club has been white for much of its life, it's impossible to tell what the original color was, according to Smith. "We don't believe that the clapboards on there are original," she said. "It probably sat around for a while unpainted. So we went to pick some colors that would set the building on its site and that would be period colors like you see in Old Deerfield, reminiscent of the milk paints that were used."

     In addition to historical accuracy, one reason the club is getting new colors is to avoid the problems associated with a white building, particularly one that is too large for its lot, Smith said.

     "One of the best things you can do, visually, is to paint it a dark color so it begins to recede and not overshadow its site," she said. Smith also said that a darker building won't show as much of the Hadley farm dirt that blows across campus as the white siding did and the dark red doors will minimize the appearance of fingerprints and wear.

     "Our crew's really been doing a good job," Smith said. "They're not just painting. They've been replacing a lot of boards. Some of the sill boards were really in tough shape."

     "I'm ecstatic," said Dennis Scott, manager of the University Club. "I've been here for 16 years, and I was already proud of this place, but now I'm like a kid with a new toy. It's looking great. I like the colors; we chose them because they fit into New England."

     "I've heard a universally positive response," said Joe Larson, president of the Faculty Club, a private membership organization that holds the liquor license for the University Club. "Everyone I've talked to likes it."

     "I can't get over it," Scott said. "I go out and check it every 20 minutes. It's just amazing. The campus is welcome to come and look at any time."

 
    
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