Getty Foundation Names 2007 Campus Heritage Grant Awardees

The Los Angeles–based Getty Foundation recently announced more than $2 million in grants to 15 colleges and universities as part of its Campus Heritage program. Some $13.5 million was dedicated toward the preservation of 86 different institutions during the six-year-long program that concludes with this year's awards.

“American colleges and university campuses contain some of the country's most significant historic architecture and designed landscapes,” says Getty Foundation associate director Joan Weinstein. Too often, these facilities have grown over long periods of time without an awareness of how to plan for their management and long-term care. The Getty Campus Heritage grants allow each school to gather the information necessary to better understand its historic resources. “Many schools are working to incorporate preservation into their overall campus master plans—to make sure that preservation is always part of the equation as they make decisions about their campuses,” Weinstein adds.

This year's grantees run the architectural gamut, from the modernism of Edward Durrell Stone at the University of Albany and Robert Mosher at the University of California, San Diego, to Moravian College's colonial buildings, to Cass Gilbert's distinctive work at the University of Texas at Austin. Alabama's Talladega College, one of the distinguished historically black colleges and universities, is another recipient.

The University of Albany's grant will be used to develop a historic preservation master plan to establish preservation policies for its Stone precincts. “We are mindful of increased national interest in the future of the mid-20th-century built environment,” says William B. Hedberg, associate vice president for academic affairs. “We believe we are stewards of something very special here and are hoping to nurture and tap into that interest as we seek to grow the University of Albany and preserve the campus.”

Previous grant recipients include the architecturally distinguished campuses of Cranbrook (2003), Columbia University (2002), the University of Chicago (2002), and the University of Virginia (2003). Since 1995, the University of Cincinnati has been expanding its campus with the work of many contemporary stars—Michael Graves, Peter Eisenman, Morphosis, and Bernard Tschumi, to name a few. The school is about half complete with the report made possible by a 2006 grant. “Our study combines the work of an architectural critic and a firm with credentials in historic preservation,” says university architect Mary Beth McGrew. “While the standard practice of preservation awaits the test of time, the University of Cincinnati has made a significant investment and wanted to access this body of work before it had stood the test of time.”

As the Getty's program wraps up with this year's grants, Weinstein notes that the earliest grants are now coming to fruition. Publication of the results during the coming years will share these lessons with the broader community.