Dartmouth today released a revised plan for apartment-style housing on Lyme Road as part of an extended North End. The plan has benefited from several months of community engagement that led to significant modifications from the original proposal released in October 2021.
The most notable change is a new location on the west side of Lyme Road on the northern end of the grounds of the former golf course. In addition, the plan includes:
- Three apartment-style residential buildings;
- 128 apartment units, with capacity for about 400 undergraduate students or 300 graduate and professional students;
- Common areas, including indoor and outdoor spaces;
- A fitness facility for students;
- A landscape design that preserves and enhances access to Pine Park; and
- Dedicated apartments for live-in professional staff or faculty.
“As the campus evolves to support Dartmouth’s long-term vision and strategic plan for growth, we are committed to strengthening Dartmouth’s historic housing model,” says Executive Vice President Rick Mills. “It is important for us to address increased housing demand, renew our longstanding undergraduate housing stock, and offer opportunities for on-campus apartment-style living. To refine and improve the proposal, we considered recent feedback and applied it to the extensive engagement that contributed to our 2021 strategic master planning framework, Planning for Possibilities.” (PDF)
The clustered residential units maximize green and open space, and the landscape design preserves and expands access to Pine Park. (Image courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross)
Creation of apartment-style residences offers Dartmouth flexibility to renew existing undergraduate housing stock over the next 15 years. The lower density of apartment-style housing requires more space, which makes the new Lyme Road location the best fit.
Historically, apartment-style options have not been offered in significant numbers on the Dartmouth campus. The initial Lyme Road proposal prompted student feedback in support of an on-campus, apartment-style, Dartmouth-operated residential option that allows for greater independence.
Undergraduate feedback to living at the newly opened Summit on Juniper complex near Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center also reinforces that apartment-style options are important to the Dartmouth population.
“As we think about integrating a new option into the housing stock for undergraduates, we will prioritize building strong connections to existing residential life, including the House Communities,” says Interim Dean of the College Scott Brown. “We have designed an engagement process to ensure direct student and faculty input on programming, student choice, sustainability, transportation, and other issues that will be critical to bring this project to life. I am excited by the potential to provide our students more choice and greater independence while continuing to be part of Dartmouth’s residential experience.”
As part of longer-range plans for the North End, the apartments will transition to serving graduate and professional school students. Additionally, this area of campus will eventually include academic spaces.
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We look forward to a robust public process and are confident that it will enhance our final project.
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Executive Vice President Rick Mills
At the same time, continued access to Pine Park, adjacent passive recreation space, and fields will remain a significant feature of this location, and they will remain open and available for community use.
Dartmouth has scheduled a series of public meetings, which can be found on the North End housing project website, for the community to engage in the process. The first session, on July 11, will provide a general overview of the project and allow for in-person and online feedback and the opportunity to express any concerns about the project. Four additional topic-specific sessions scheduled on subsequent Mondays in July and August will respond to concerns and consider residential building design and materials, programming, activation and student experience, green and public spaces, and sustainability and the environment.
“While we are firmly committed to residential housing at this location, there are many aspects of the plan that will be influenced by community feedback,” says Mills. “We look forward to a robust public process and are confident that it will enhance our final project.”
For more information on the North End housing project, please visit our website. Comments and questions can be submitted to [email protected].