Two major landmarks in MIT's evolving campus - the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center and the Simmons Hall dormitory - were dedicated Friday in back-to-back ceremonies at the fitness center's pool and on Briggs Field opposite the new dorm.
The buildings usher in a new era in Institute life. The dorm marks the first time that freshmen can be universally accommodated in campus housing, and the fitness center is a state-of-the-art facility that brings the entire MIT community together for recreation, fitness and athletic activities.
"The Zesiger Center and Simmons Hall demonstrate the crucial and enduring bond between MIT's alumni community and its students," said Alex d'Arbeloff, chair of the MIT Corporation. "They also confirm the centrality of our undergraduate students in the life of the Institute."
Simmons Hall shines from Vassar (full story)
By Sarah H. Wright
News Office
The road to the Simmons Hall dedication on Friday was a golf cart route from the Johnson Athletic Center that wound through the athletic fields, affording a broadside view of the building from a distance. The multicolored aluminum sheathing glittered over the 10-story concrete block perforated with some 5,500 two-foot square windows.
Z Center makes splash (full story)
By Deborah Halber
News Office
The Zesiger Sports and Fitness Centerwas dedicated Friday in a ceremony beside the larger of the new center's two pools. Both the pool and the sports center are named for donors Albert L. Zesiger, a 1951 MIT graduate and a long-time member of the Athletics Visiting Committee, and his wife, Barrie M. Zesiger, a member of the MIT Corporation.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 9, 2002.
