westlawn
January 16, 2025
Center for Nursing and Public Health
The start of the spring semester marks the beginning of the first classes held in Goshen College’s brand-new Center for Nursing and Public Health. This state-of-the-art facility marks the final stage of the $21 million Westlawn Hall renovation. Nursing faculty relocated from Wyse Hall to the administrative suite, found on the second floor of Westlawn, in December, a week after students left. The new nursing center has triple the square footage of the old space in Wyse Hall, three inpatient simulation rooms, an exam room and a 10-bed skills lab. Jewel Yoder, who is a professor of nursing, chair of...
October 24, 2024
Effects of construction on campus
The new and updated version of the Westlawn dining hall opened to students earlier this week, which was a result of more than two years of work. The first steps to renovation began way back on March 26, 2022, when volunteers started clearing the upper floors of West Lawn. It wasn’t until Aug. 7, 2023 that contractors first prepared the land for construction. This preparation included closing the areas around the physical building as well, as part of the project would involve some expansion. This meant that a section of the sidewalk was closed on campus, as well as along...
October 24, 2024
Dining returns to Westlawn
On Sunday evening, Westlawn opened for dining, 415 days after it was shut down as part of broader renovations in the building. “Do you remember when we moved everything out of here?” President Rebecca Stoltzfus asked me, referencing a Saturday morning last September when Stoltzfus, along with other members of the faculty and staff, helped transition out of the dining hall into a temporary space in the Union building. Now, over a year later, Stoltzfus joined 214 other people to experience the renovated kitchen and updated dining hall. The rest of the building is currently expected to open at the...
October 10, 2024
GC goes public with campaign
On Friday, Oct. 4, Goshen College announced the public phase of their “Connected Cause” campaign after raising $60 million of $68 million during the first three years, making it the largest campaign in GC history, according to a spokesperson for the college. “Connected Cause is rooted in the mission and values that have guided Goshen College for more than 130 years,” President Becky Stoltzfus said in a press release. “It is designed to support thriving students, integrating academic excellence with real-world learning and active love for God and neighbor.” The quiet phase of the campaign began in June of 2021...
October 3, 2024
Westlawn project nears completion
After a year of construction, Westlawn will partially reopen in the final weeks of October, beginning with the dining hall. Though the menu for the first meal has not yet been announced, the director of dining services promised an expanded cuisine. Brian Mast, director of facilities at Goshen College, said that construction is on track to finish on Oct. 15. Dining services will be moving back to the ground floor of Westlawn during the week of fall break, with a tentative reopening date of Oct. 20. The nursing department, which has a new home on the second and third floors...
March 14, 2024
Westlawn renovation: an update
After breaking ground in September, the Westlawn renovation is currently on track for its mid-October construction deadline, with hopes of having the dining space open in August. Brian Mast, director of facilities, has been at the helm of the project in collaboration with DJ Construction. About the current progress, Mast said, “We’re focusing on the kitchen right now, and trying to get that finished … so that we can get rid of the temporary dining trailer and be back in there.” Lon Roth, a superintendent at DJ Construction, said that even though the goal is to have the kitchen open...
October 26, 2023
Westlawn renovation update
The kitchen, fully gutted, is being prepped for new installations. The orange marks on the floor are where new counters will be installed. Brian Mast, director of facilities, admires the foundation for the new glass staircase and lobby. The staircase leading up from the ground floor is completely ripped out. On the third floor, framing for study rooms and classrooms is complete. Overall, construction is progressing on schedule, according to Mast.
September 8, 2023
$21M Westlawn renovation begins
Editor’s note, published Sept. 14, 2023: After reviewing the article last week on the Westlawn renovation, we would like to add some context and update the language used. Referring to the $7 million as “unaccounted for” was imprecise, and the subhead that described the funding as “missing” was a poor word choice — “fundraising is currently short $7 million” would have been more accurate. The fact that the project is two-thirds funded was not common knowledge before The Record’s article, and that information is newsworthy and merits prominence. More context is required, though: It is President Stoltzfus’s “confident goal” that...
September 8, 2023
Cooking for hundreds in a trailer
Westlawn Dining Hall hadn’t felt quite the same the past few weeks. Its usual round tables were replaced by long, rectangular tables, shrouded in cheap, purple plastic tablecloths — the kind that are fun to make holes in at birthday parties. The juice machine was gone, replaced by large see-through coolers that had to be filled with ice to keep the juice cold. Just like its orange juice, Westlawn had become a bit watered down. Red tape labeled “danger” lined the street and Kulp entrances. A few electrical cords hung from the wall. The artwork hanging over the fireplace had...