Students and faculty have been brainstorming ideas for the old Student Activities Center. Graphic by Elaine Zhang/The Choate News
For three years, the old Student Activities Center (SAC) has been boarded up, leaving many with the question, “What was the old SAC like, and what will happen to the building?” In 1917, a fire broke out in the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center, damaging much of the building. The old SAC was then built to replace the partially burnt athletic facility, serving as both a gym and a theater stage. In 1979, the building was officially dedicated as the Student Activity Center. Seniors may remember that the old SAC had three floors with a huge arched window, similar to Hill House Dining Hall. The ground floor had an open concept design featuring a dance floor, ping pong and pool tables, and several lounge areas filled with benches and bean bags. The second floor had a balcony tuck shop overlooking the level below, and the basement held the mailroom and School Store.
For many four-year seniors, the old SAC holds a special place in their hearts. Because of its location between the Athletic Center and the Dining Hall, many seniors fondly reminisced about spending time in the building following sports. Matt Rendon ’20 said, “Everyday after sports, people would come up from the Athletic Center to the tuck shop and go into the school store. It was a great place to relax and spend time with friends.”
As Mrs. Kathleen Wallace, Associate Head of School describes it, “[The old SAC] was a space that was one of a kind. [Choate] was one of the only schools with a student activity center, and it was a great space for dances, hanging out, and snacks.” She added, “St. John Hall is absolutely spectacular. It provides a place to hang out, to study, to have social gatherings, and to hold club meetings all in one for space. The new Student Activities Center meets the needs of the community today in ways that the old SAC couldn’t.”
As suggested in the most recent campus plan, the admissions office, now based in Archbold, may soon move into the space. “Every five or six years, we do a campus master plan,” said Head of School Dr. Alex Curtis. “We look at all the facilities on campus and what we are thinking of for the next forty or fifty years,” Both he and Mrs. Wallace stressed the need to relocate the admissions department. “Here in Archbold, we are bursting at the seams,” Mrs. Wallace said. “We have more demands for interviews than we can meet because we don’t have enough interview space, our admissions officers are sharing offices, and there is insufficient parking. The old SAC would be a good location due to the sufficient parking and the increased square footage available.”
Dr. Curtis added, “Admissions has completely outgrown [Archbold] since we have more than doubled our admissions in the last eight years. When we asked in the campus master plan what would be a good location for admissions, [the old SAC] was the suggestion. There is lots of parking, it’s easy to find, it’s large enough, and while it doesn’t have a solarium, it does have beautiful views.”
The idea of moving the admissions department out of Archbold has been discussed for years in the administration and the student body, but some students are not too keen on the idea. “I don’t think it is a smart idea to move the admissions office to the old SAC,” Rendon said. “As a gold key leader, I’ve seen several families impressed by the grand view of the pond; It’s one of the biggest first impressions and what people remember from tours.”
Andrew Mi ’20 respected the School’s idea to move the admissions department but also suggested his ideas for the building. “I think that there is great value in having a permanent place for clubs,” Mi said. “As a leader of the debate team, we have a lot of trophies that we would like to display, but there is no space that we can make our own and return to. Of course, this would be a luxury, but I feel like it could be a good use of the building.”
Mi was not alone in having ideas for the building. Claire Fu ’22 suggested converting the old SAC into its original function as a gym to complement the current athletic facilities. “The SAC would be a wonderful addition to the sports complex of Choate due to its location right next to the pool and football field,” Fu said, “We could have a space there for athletes to relax, but also it could have a bowling alley, maybe move the badminton court over there, too. It would be nice to consolidate the activities from Maguire Gym into a location closer to the other facilities.”
Rendon came up with a comprehensive plan to keep the admissions department in Archbold while allowing for its expansion. “The dormitory part of Archbold would move to the old SAC,” Rendon said, “and the admissions office could move up through the different floors. It wouldn’t be that hard to change the rooms to offices and to make the common space a comfortable interview area.”
According to Dr. Curtis , the plan for the old SAC has not been finalized. In the coming year, an architectural team will analyze the building and suggest formal plans for its use.
