Peter’s Glen is a pathway and landscape revitalization project in the heart of campus, that demonstrates how the stewardship of our natural resources can result in a masterpiece of landscape architecture.
The Vision
Peter’s Glen supports the University’s work to further connect academic disciplines with the expansion of the Middle Campus by creating a direct, beautiful pathway that links Upper and Middle campuses with easy access to Dana Arts Center, Little Hall, and the Benton Center.
This unutilized ravine will be turned into an enjoyable landscape experience, where water cascades over natural stone into stepped pools alongside paved, heated pathways shaded by a natural tree canopy. Plazas at the top and bottom of the walkway will provide areas for relaxation, study, and gathering, and drastically improve pedestrian traffic.
This project is generously funded by alumnus Peter Kellner ’65, and designed by Michael Van Valkenburg and Associates. MVVA is renowned for its major work in designing Brooklyn Bridge Park, Harvard Yard, and the presidential libraries of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
This gift will also enable critical infrastructure work to prepare for future construction on the lower campus, and is in addition to Kellner’s past support of two new faculty chairs, Oak Drive replanting, and the Colgate Commitment financial aid initiative.
Our Timeline
- Construction begins in February 2024. Initial site work will necessitate the clearing of hundreds of trees, shrubs, and overgrowth on the hillside to prepare for major excavation and earth moving.
- Hill-side stabilization efforts will control water and ensure that the slopes do not wash out.
- Resilient and adapted species of groundcover, shrubs, and trees will be planted to restore the woodland. The majority of the new plantings will be native to the region, including white pine and many other species that are culturally significant to the area’s indigenous community.
- Completion is slated for summer 2025.
Features of Peter's Glen
- New heated concrete stair system, pathways, and site lighting will connect the middle and upper campus through a wooded gully located between Ryan Studio/Dana Arts and the traffic circle below Frank Dining Hall.
- The northern half of the Frank Dining Hall traffic circle will become a new upper plaza for improved pedestrian safety, ease of access, and a greater natural connection with the surrounding landscape. The plaza will feature stone pavers, boulder seat walls, new site lighting, and tree and understory plantings.
- A lower stormwater basin will be an attractive landscape feature that will include stepped boulder seat walls for passive enjoyment or learning.
- A portion of the project funds will provide the opportunity to bury some unsightly utility lines along Broad Street in preparation for future construction plans on the lower campus.
- Stormwater runoff will be captured by a series of stone cascades and ephemeral pools during light rain events. A larger, closed conveyance system with capacity for heavy rain events will mitigate flooding and water quality issues.
- A new middle campus pathway will create an accessible pedestrian spine from the back side of Little Hall to Dana Arts/Curtis stairs. Work includes the cutting back of the hillside behind Little Hall with a series of stone and oak terraces to open up views between The Glen and points north towards Case Library.
- A new lower plaza with pavers at the south side of Ryan Studio will connect the project to the new Benton Center, physically and in shared materiality.
While the walk down Peter’s Glen allows long views into the valley, there also will be a sense — with the trees around you, as you go down the stairs — of being held there.”