{"id":1184,"date":"2025-12-05T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/12\/05\/2025-12-05-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:07:15","slug":"2025-12-05-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/12\/05\/2025-12-05-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol\/","title":{"rendered":"Old bricks, new brilliance, timeless\u00a0symbol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ricky Andrews<\/a> · Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2014 PARAMOUNT PICTURES<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Barring freshmen and newly transferred students, all current Grovers will remember the fencing and banners that surrounded Rockwell Hall and the back portion of STEM Hall, along with the constant bustle of contractors around the middle of campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, new and returning students were welcomed with an entirely different vision \u2014 the fence is gone, the construction site has fallen silent and the gravel lot where cranes once sat has been replaced with a freshly-curated lawn and walkways. Beyond the landscaping, however, lies a building and a story which represents the very values that make Grove City College what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rockwell Hall was built in the early 1930s amid the Great Depression. “The decision to proceed with its construction was driven not only by the need for a new facility but also by a desire to create employment opportunities for those struggling to make ends meet,” Susan Grimm, vice president for operations, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Rockwell Hall has stood not only as a place of scientific learning but also as an iconic location on campus, being featured on portraits, merchandise and photographs. Its tower is often adorned with the Christmas star that illuminates the quad each December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the decision was made to renovate and modernize Rockwell in time for the college’s 150th anniversary, a special emphasis was placed by President McNulty and the Board of Trustees on preserving the antique exterior of the building while providing a state-of-the-art interior for students to learn and to flourish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a video announcing the renovations, Bill Smith ’69 (for whom Smith Hall was named) said, “It was important to save the edifice of the building while at the same time provide an opportunity to modernize the interior to make it a really great place for students to learn, to grow and develop, so that when they leave campus, they’re ready to go out and \u2026 be an active part of society.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With over two years of renovations now completed, what do we have now? Venturing through the doors into Rockwell-Smith, you will see a clean, modern aesthetic standing in sharp contrast to the weather-worn red brick exterior. A focal point of the renovations was creating collaborative spaces for students, further driving the deep communal aspect that drew many of us to come to this school in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classrooms are spacious, with new desks and tech available to enhance in-class learning and group work. The Rockwell and STEM buildings are now near-seamlessly connected by a corridor that houses even more learning and study-ing spaces indoors, plus tables and lighting outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reopening has also contributed to the common debate of building names among students: BARS or BATS? SAC or STU? And now, Rockwell or Smith? These differentiations can quickly become confusing, especially in dialogue between upperclassmen who use the old names and freshmen who were taught the new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modernizing the interior of Rockwell-Smith while preserving the original exterior is, in a sense, a broader symbol of Grove City College. Grove City’s mission is twofold. Its first goal is to prepare students for a successful career in the real world \u2014 whether our field of choice be biology, teaching, design or political science. The other half of the mission is to preserve the traditional values that got us here \u2014 integrity, truth and excellence. Others may see us as old fashioned or out of style, but just as Rockwell stands preserved after almost 100 years, the values of Grove City College will never die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barring freshmen and newly transferred students, all current Grovers will remember the fencing and banners that surrounded Rockwell Hall and the back portion of STEM Hall, along with the constant bustle of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209],"tags":[19,40,124],"class_list":["post-1184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-community","tag-issue-2025-12-05","tag-ricky-andrews"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",1280,793,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",150,93,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",300,186,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",768,476,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",1024,634,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",1280,793,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-25-old-bricks-new-brilliance-timeless-symbol-1-v2.jpg",1280,793,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Barring freshmen and newly transferred students, all current Grovers will remember the fencing and banners that surrounded Rockwell Hall and the back portion of STEM Hall, along with the constant bustle of","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2179,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions\/2179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}