Alumni Center wins award

Cornell College won an award from the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission for its adaptive re-use of a building from the 1880s.

The award recognizes the renovations that created the Paul K. Scott Alumni Center at Rood House on Cornell’s campus. The renovation was overseen by Sauter Baty Associates, a Mount Vernon architecture firm.

About the building:

In 1883, Col. Henry Harrison Rood commissioned a 12-room house from Cass Chapman, the Chicago architect who had designed King Chapel and would design Bowman Hall the following year. The Class of 1894 purchased the house in 1919 and presented it to the college, which opened it that fall as “Rood Cottage” to house women students.

Two houses, which stood respectively where Merner and Olin are now, were moved and attached to Rood: the Alexander Crawford House in 1936 to the east side and the Anna Jordan House in

1954 to the north. The three buildings, connected by ramps and steps, had their special charm and coveted space: Tower Room, Sky Room, and Penthouse. Rood served as a men’s dormitory in 1931–32 and housed the Naval Cadets in 1943–44. It became co-ed in the fall of 2002.

In 2009, Rood House was completely renovated to become the Paul K. Scott Alumni Center. The building now houses the Office of Alumni and College Advancement.

The renovation was overseen by Ed Sauter and Jim Baty. Their firm, Sauter Baty Associates, also oversaw the renovation of the Peter Paul Luce Admissions Center at Wade House, another adaptive re-use. The pair were named honorary alumni at the college’s Alumni Board meeting on April 29, in recognition for their work on campus.