'Challenge from the start'
By Mary Spicer
Meadville Tribune
MEADVILLE, Pa. (Sept. 24, 2005) -- “There were many moments when I thought I didn’t know if we were going to make it through this job,” said Larry Slozat of S&K Wood Products of Meadville. “For a company of three, it was a challenge from the start.”
The challenge was handling the restoration of the historic woodwork in Allegheny College’s Cochran Hall, part of a $6 million renovation of the 1908 structure that has transformed it into the Patricia Bush Tippie Alumni Center.
(On Oct. 8, a 10:30 a.m. dedication ceremony at the Patricia Bush Tippie Alumni Center at Cochran Hall on the campus of Allegheny College will be followed by an open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Both the ceremony and the open house, which are part of the weekend’s homecoming activities, are free and open to the public.)
Starting with the building’s distinctive curved windows, S&K spent three months replacing all the sash. Then they started on moldings, beginning with the second floor and then moving to the first, where the real challenges awaited.
When it came time to duplicate a fireplace in the dining room, for example, all they had to go with was some small photographs. “To get some of the molding profiles, we put the photographs under a magnifying glass, just to get the profiles and blow them up,” Slozat explained, noting that before they were done, they probably duplicated almost 50 different types of molding. “A lot of knives had to be ground,” he said.
As he worked on replacing missing sections, others were working on removing paint from the existing woodwork — as much as 12 layers in some places.
The hard work gave way to celebration Friday as the construction firms and workers who took part in renovation that restored the building to its original 1908 glory were invited to take the first formal look at the finished result. As members of the group toured the building, admiring the distinctive beauty of the quarter-sawn white oak woodwork, red silk wall coverings, Persian rugs and furnishings that looked like they had always been there, their smiles indicated that they were well pleased with the results of their labors.
“It’s been a once-in-a-career opportunity to be able to do something like this — to be able to work with something like this and turn it back into what it was,” said Lance Johnson, whose Associated Contractors Inc. of Conneaut Lake served as general contractor for the project.
For Patricia Tippie, it was about time.
“It was a beautiful building when I was a student,” the New Castle native and member of the Allegheny class of 1956 recalled Friday. “I lived in Caflisch Hall and we had our meals here.” Then she was gone for a few years. “When I came back, there was no more dining room. Everything had changed. When I saw the post office, I could not believe that.” Over the years, drop ceilings and drywall had covered the building’s architectural features as the building found itself filling more than a dozen functions. With the renovation complete, the alumni center occupies the first floor, the second floor is dedicated to alumni affairs and development offices and the basement is available for storage.
Tippie and her husband, Henry, live in Texas, where the colleges have beautiful places for their alumni. “As a trustee, I knew that we were always asking our alumni for support, and I felt that they needed what I called a home,” she continued. “I mentioned it to (President Richard Cook), and he suggested restoring Cochran. That’s how the whole project started.”
The Tippies donated $5 million for the overall restoration of the building; Bill and Carol Tillotson, members of the classes of ‘52 and ‘54 respectively, gave $1 million to restore the oak-paneled dining room, which will bear their name.
Patricia Bush Tippie project
By Gary Johnson
Meadville Tribune
MEADVILLE, Pa. (July 26, 2005) -- Quartersawn white oak, red silk, etched glass, intricate woodwork.
Not bad for an Allegheny College office that didn’t even have a home and made two moves in the last year.
The Office of Development and Alumni Affairs recently occupied the newly renovated Patricia Bush Tippie Alumni Center in Cochran Hall, the culmination of a $6 million renovation and restoration project that began in spring 2004. Interior detail work is slated to be completed by the end of the month.
In 2001, Tippie, a member of the class of 1956, and her husband, Henry B. Tippie, donated $5 million for the overall restoration of the building, according to the college’s Web site. Bill Tillotson, class of 1952, and his wife, Carol, class of 1954, gave $1 million to restore the dining room.
The center will serve as the department’s offices as well as a home away from home for alumni when they visit the campus for special events.
The department offices are on the top floor, while meeting rooms, a dining room and offices for alumni functions are on the first floor. The basement houses a phone bank for fund-raising, file rooms, and a kitchen and preparation area.
Ken Hanna, the college’s director of physical plant, said the project added nearly 6,000 square feet onto the original 24,500 square feet of Cochran Hall.
The lobby’s extensive woodwork, including columns, fireplaces, paneling, ceiling and trim, was taken apart, restored and re-built, Hanna said, while some parts had to be replicated with new materials.
The dining room will have seating for 144 and features a fireplace and a mezzanine with a railing re-built based on old photographs.
When workers took down walls that had been put up during earlier renovations, they found red leather on walls — a surprise — and fireplaces — not a surprise, Hanna said. In each case, builders remained faithful to the original look.
Hanna said outside finishing touches will continue until the first of September. The college’s Oct. 8 Homecoming will feature the building’s grand opening.
Tim Brady, director of annual giving, said the general contractor for the renovation project, Associated Contractors Inc., hired mainly local firms to do the work. “That’s another great example of Allegheny and Meadville working together,” he said.
College officials have said the project will vastly improve alumni participation in the college. Currently, alumni gather at any number of buildings.
The 1907 building was originally a residence hall with a grille and bowling alley, Hanna said. Other uses have included the college post office and bookstore, a print shop, offices, food services, academic rooms and the English department.
“Now it’s restored and forever will be for alumni,” he said. “This is their building.”
Brady said the building used to be utilitarian: Linoleum floor, white paint. “People got their mail and went to the bookshop,” he said. But now, with its renovations, the building is a permanent home for the office and alumni, which should also bode well for the college as a whole. He said the state-of-the-art call center will generate about a half-million dollars a year for the school’s annual fund.
Plus, “When alumni come back to campus, they now have a place to congregate,” Brady said. “People will actually want to come here. Hopefully that leads to greater support of the college.”
