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Citation: Pennock, Amy. “Archwood home to expand services.” The Exponent, September 17, 1997, p. 1.
The old funeral parlor in Archwood, currently referred to as The Archwood House, is seen as an asset to the Baldwin-Wallace Community as a center of life rather than death.
Last April, a B-W Trustee purchased this newly renovated house to act as a student-run community center.
The house, located in the Archwood-Denison Neighborhood on the near west side of Cleveland, housed its first B-W students this summer in the program called Project Affinity. Among these students were Sara Beecher, Erin Berry, Hannah Conroy, Mark Mullaney, and graduate student Bill Mains.
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The house was first bought and then renovated partly by volunteer B-W students, over 80 of them, according to Carlson. Carlson added that another trustee member, Glenn Snow, was "very involved in renovating the house and helping make ways for students to be involved in the renovations."
Beecher was one of the students involved in the volunteer renovation. The tasks included ripping up the carpet, repainting, light gardening, and cleanup.
"B-W contracted painters, carpenters, and electricians," said Beecher. Most of these contracted workers were from Buildings and Grounds.
The purchase of this house was not only for Project Affinity. "Eventually we are going to run programs for the community," said Carlson.
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The house is currently being used for different campus organizations. Since this house does belong to the B-W community, Carlson says campus organizations need only reserve space for the house's use.
Carlson forsees the house as a Project X site. Beecher sees the house providing "humongous services to B-W" and allowing students to "expand their comfort zones" by moving into the community..
The dream of Community Outreach is that this home will be used year round to house resident students so that they might live within a near west side community.
Beecher sees the house also becoming a home. "It's a lovely place, a warm place. The more people start using it, the more like home it will feel," said Beecher. Community Outreach agrees that this home has endless possibilities.
Citation: Summers, Kelly. “Exploration Series takes students downtown.” The Exponent, September 8, 1999, p. 5.
Known as the Archwood House, this former funeral home was purchased by a B-W Trustee several years ago to be used us a center for community involvement. Office of Community Outreach Director Margaret O'Gorman stated, "We have used the house as a means of building community in the Archwood-Denison neighborhood since it was acquired. It has been used for a wide range of programs, including a meeting place for neighborhood groups. Currently, The Office of Community Outreach is working with several organizations in the community to create new programs at the house. These new programs will focus on the needs of elementary school children and teens in the neighborhood."
Citation: Hazen, Julia and Mandi McMillen. “Project ACT.” The Exponent, April 3, 2002, p. 6.
The majority of B-W's residents are snuggled up in the dorms, sharing a bathroom along with nearly thirty others, and have to lug themselves to the Union for a meal, but that's not the case for-Erica Alguire, Lindsay Elwood, Julia Hazen, and Megan Wilson. These four senior women still enjoy the perks of communal living, but reside in a mansion-sized house in the Near Westside of Cleveland as part of the Archwood Community Team.
The Archwood, WHAT?
In 1997. an alumnus donated his old funeral home to B-W's Office of Community Outreach as a tool to connect the Baldwin-Wallace Community with Cuyahoga's inner-city neighborhoods. The goal of this house is to provide an opportunity to our students to expand the concept of building a community beyond the boundaries of Baldwin-Wallace College. In the past, this house has been used for various programs, including the Office of Community Outreach's weekend Urban Plunge program and Project Affinity, a summer long residency program. As a meeting location for area nonprofit organizations, we've held teen programs, after-school programs, and adult literacy programs out of the house.
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As BW's Brain Center for Community Engagement continues to respond to community needs and student interests, opportunities to serve evolve and grow. Involvement in student-led programs such as Alternative Breaks, Weekly Programs and Jacket Philanthropy each hit all-time high participation rates prior to the pandemic.
However, during ever-changing times, opening new doors for innovation can mean closing others. Such is the case with the historic Archwood House, which BW sold recently after 25 years of operation as a service-learning site in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood of Cleveland.
A number of factors led to the difficult decision to sell Archwood, including limitations of the physical space, lack of ADA compliance, operating costs and shifting student interest.
A History of Community Connection
David and Frances Brain generously donated the former funeral home at 2709 Archwood Avenue to BW in the mid-1990s.
Since then, it was home base for several BW community engagement programs. Among the most notable were Discover Cleveland, Urban Semester and Project Affinity, a summer service program that combined personal development, community engagement, social justice education and nonprofit internships in a living-learning community.
Proceeds from the sale to a private company will be held in reserve as the University works collaboratively with alumni, students and community partners to determine how the funds can be used for a new chapter of community engagement experiences.
Citation: Louise M. Kuhns, ed., "Athletic Archives reveal sports history," Pursuit 14, no. 2 (Winter 1982): 11.
The Baldwin-Wallace Athletic Archives, established in memory of Lee J. Tressel, opened on Homecoming Weekend, 1981. Located in the basement of the Watts Athletic Center across from Ursprung Gymnasium, the Archives catalog much of the athletic history of the College through game programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, press guides and slide shows.
The project was accomplished through the efforts of the Athletic Department staff, the 1980 football coaching staff, the Alumni and Development Officers, the Lettermen's Association, Dr. A. B. Bonds, Jr., and all who contributed to the Lee J. Tressel Memorial Fund, from which operating expenses have been made available. Eloise Tressel worked diligently to organize the Archives, and although she found it hard work, she adds that it was "thoroughly enjoyable. It's downright fun to look through all of these things - to the point where I sometimes stop working just to sit down and read."
The Archives are open Monday through Friday, noon to 1:30 p.m., and before and after all home basketball games. Additional hours can be arranged for special occasions by calling the Athletic Department, 216-826-2184.
Nearly 90 years of athletic history are represented, and any memorabilia which anyone might be willing to donate is appreciated.
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The future of STEM education in Northeast Ohio is taking shape at Baldwin Wallace University and the finishing touches are right on time for a January 2021 opening.
The Austin E. Knowlton Center is ready to welcome students, faculty and staff from the inviting exterior portico to the dramatic forum staircase that doubles as an indoor amphitheater space.
The inspiring space also features a soaring elevator shaft wrapped in wood panels crafted from reclaimed campus trees and two-story windows that offer a sweeping view of BW's North Quad.
The innovative spaces for STEM learning also set the center apart.
INDUSTRY COLLABORATION
"BW is meeting the growing demand in burgeoning fields like data science and applied mathematics, computer and network security, and engineering," says Dr. James McCargar, associate dean of BW's School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing.
"We are equipping students for careers that are reshaping our future and empowering graduates to lead in ways we can only begin to imagine today."
McCargar adds that the Knowlton Center was designed with industry input and talent development in mind.
"The building's advanced labs will encourage collaboration between the sciences with students, faculty and regional partners from a range of disciplines working together to solve unscripted problems."
ADVANCED LAB SPACES
Among the highlights featured in McCargar's recent hard-hat, video tour (embedded below) are spaces that will be steeped in opportunity for hands-on, experiential learning and real-world collaboration with industry:
McCargar concludes, "The Knowlton Center will be a hive of essential and exciting academic, industrial and social activity for Northeast Ohio."
A 55,000 square foot, cutting-edge hub for computer science, mathematics, physics and engineering is now elevating advanced learning, research and collaboration at Baldwin Wallace University.
Classes began gathering in The Austin E. Knowlton Center on Tuesday, January 19, the first day of the spring 2021 semester.
A virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony and online tour, led by BW President Bob Helmer and Dean James McCargar, marked the opening, which was also featured by Crain's Cleveland Business.
STEM DISCIPLINES AND MORE
Contractors, faculty and staff were busy over the winter break moving in and setting up classrooms, labs and collaboration spaces for safe physical distancing.
At the same time, faculty are envisioning and planning new opportunities for hands-on testing, analysis and innovation enabled by the incredible, new facilities.
While Knowlton is the academic home of four BW STEM disciplines, faculty are already laying the groundwork for projects that will involve students and faculty from academic programs across campus.
WOW FACTOR
The building's impressive features, designed with input from industry leaders, faculty and students, include a soaring glass atrium with a forum staircase, which offers ample seating for special events and is outfitted with a large-screen laser projection system.
The lobby also features an exposed elevator shaft elegantly wrapped in an ombre pattern of salvaged campus tree wood.
The building is home to a dozen flexible, tech-enabled classrooms, along with 10 team workspaces that mimic what graduates will find in professional work environments.
FAB LAB AND MAKER SPACE
But the building's laboratories may be the star attraction. "The Knowlton Center's advanced labs will foster collaboration between sciences as students, faculty and regional business partners work together to solve unscripted problems," Dean McCargar noted.
For example, the fabrication lab ("fab lab") will enable engineering students to design, prototype and build real-world projects with regional industry and government partners.
According to Dr. Jennifer Kadlowec, professor and chair of engineering at BW, "The new maker space will allow prototype and final production of parts for projects in engineering and computer science, such as in IoT (Internet of Things) and mechatronics. Users across campus, from entrepreneurship to the arts, are also interested in leveraging the maker facilities."
Kadlowec adds that both maker and fab labs will foster "sustainable design to meet needs here at home and abroad, including in the developing world."
DATA VISUALIZATION AND USER EXPERIENCE
The data visualization lab will support math and computer science students as they track and graph data for the data-centric challenges of business and society, while the user experience (UX) lab, with both recorded and live observation options, will help students understand and build empathy for the users of their software.
"Students will experience first-hand the importance of considering user needs at every step of the software development lifecycle," explained Dr. Andrew Watkins, associate professor and chair of computer science.
The spacious robotics lab will host a variety of robotic platforms for experimentation. Faculty anticipate the acquisition of humanoid robotics that will open the door to collaboration across BW disciplines to explore and solve a range of interesting problems.
Faculty are also eager to host outreach programs like tech and science camps, hackathons and competitions to benefit younger students throughout Northeast Ohio.
TRANSFORMATIVE STEM SUPPORT
Construction of the $25 million project, completed on time in spite of the global pandemic, was supported by a number of generous donations, including an $8 million grant from The Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.
Additional corporate and foundation support included major gifts from OEC, a Richfield-based, Software as a Service technology company; The Harding Family Charitable Trust; and FirstEnergy Foundation and FirstEnergy Corporation.
At an October 2019 groundbreaking for the building, President Helmer expressed BW's deep gratitude to the project funders. "This investment comes at the right time for Northeast Ohio, as demonstrated by the strong support of generous donors who have rallied around this project."
VIRTUAL RIBBON CUTTING AND TOUR
The Austin E. Knowlton Center was designed by The Collaborative with construction led by AMHigley.
