The foundation, founded by industrialist and Amherst alumni Arthur Vining Davis '88, awards grants of $100,000-$200,000 in five program areas. The grant bestowed upon the College fell under the category of "Private Higher Education."
The grant is meant to support the College's facilitation of students in the humanities, sciences and math. According to the foundation's Web site, "The higher education program seeks to strengthen private four-year liberal arts institutions that place strong emphasis on teaching and whose students choose majors primarily in the humanities, science and math. Support generally will be reserved for schools of broadly acknowledged academic excellence in the liberal arts and a solid record of financial strength." Amherst was one of 20 institutions to receive such a prize. The list of institutions receiving awards include Kenyon College, Wesleyan and Yale Universities.
The $200,000 grant, though generous, defrays only a small portion of the $27,000,000 budget required to construct the new science building, which will replace Pratt Museum as the home of the College's natural history collections and will house the geology department. Much of this sum was dedicated not to the construction itself, but rather to the transfer of the Pratt's impressive collection. Many of the more delicate fossils required meticulous storage and movement procedure. Displays include fossilized cave bears and Irish elk, as well as modern esoterica such as chimpanzee and platypus skeletons.
The museum's prize specimens, however, are the first dinosaur tracks ever discovered in New England, which come from the collection of former college President Edward Hitchcock, and the skeleton of a mastodon.
The building, made of glass and brick, was crafted by the Boston-based architectural firm Payette Associates with the mastodon in mind. "The glass façade allows a glimpse into the building, in which the skeletal specimens are truly the iconic images for the museum," said Director of Facilities Planning and Management Jim Brassord.
The building's architecture was carefully considered in other ways as well. "It was important that the building be Amherst-like, and the rectangular form is evocative of North and South dormitories," said Brassord. "But it's still contemporary and it's contextual-the red brick echoes Fayerweather."
The building's role as a teaching tool and not merely a warehouse for artifacts was also emphasized by its design. The edifice will contain classrooms and research spaces surrounding offices in what Brassord described as a "pod" format. The museum itself will have extended study hours for students of the natural sciences.
The motivation for transferring the museum from its former home in Pratt was two-fold. First, it facilitates one of the College's major housing goals which is consolidation of all first-year housing on the main quad, a component of the Residential Master Plan. The objective approached fruition with the renovation of North and South Colleges and the construction of James and Stearns Halls, but a portion of the class of 2009 remains sequestered in Plaza and Waldorf Dormitories, temporary housing separate from the quad. With the museum's relocation, however, Pratt's prime real estate can be reclaimed as first-year housing.
The geology department's need for improved technology and space also influenced the decision. According to Brassord, Pratt, which is over 100 years old, was no longer able to meet the department's growing technological needs. The building's state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories will provide the requisite teaching tools.
Located between Fayerweather Hall, the Keefe Campus Center and the social quad, the new building is situated at a vibrant junction upon the campus, and its terra cotta, brick and glass components are arresting. "Not only will this building be the home of our great geology department and our natural history collection," said President Anthony Marx. "It will be also be an intellectual hub for the growth of environmental studies at Amherst and an architectural centerpiece of the East side of the campus."
Marx sees the building as emblematic of Amherst's scientific consciousness. "It seems a powerful combination to be reminded of what extinction looks like as we contemplate the challenges to our Earth, environment and species in the years ahead," he said.
The site is scheduled to open for teaching in time for the spring semester. Public visitation will commence late spring or early summer.