WHILE THE NEW RESIDENCE HALLS WILL PROVIDE hundreds of Carleton students with a beautiful home, the project also has had a positive effect on the College’s relationship with its neighbors, specifically the families who live on the east side of Northfield.

When the College originally planned to build a new dormitory on Maple Street, some Northfield residents objected to the building’s size and location, and the project was suspended. During a subsequent comprehensive residential-life planning process, the College determined that two higher-capacity residence halls were required to house more students on campus. Those halls, named Cassat and Memorial, are being built just to the north of First Street, near Nourse Hall and the Language and Dining Center.

“We are having an ongoing, good conversation with the College about its building projects,” says Suzie Nakasian, a designated liaison between Carleton and the Northfield Eastside Neighborhood Association (NESNA), which emerged out of the discussions about the Maple Street site. “We asked Carleton to reduce the number of students living in the neighborhood and it responded by building two multi-million-dollar halls [on the campus’s southeast border]. That is significant and has been very well received by the community.”

NESNA and Carleton have modeled what can be accomplished through early and clear communication between a neighborhood group and an institution. For example, when Carleton applied to the City of Northfield for a building permit for the new halls, the College learned of a parking regulation that required additional off-street parking near the buildings. Installing new parking lots would have resulted in the loss of green space along First Street. Nearby residents, led by Rich Noer, Laurence McKinley Gould Professor of the Natural Sciences, Emeritus, designed a new parking plan and, together with College administrators, persuaded the city to change the permit regulation.

“It’s a great example of Carleton working with its neighbors to form an alliance and effect change,” says NESNA board member Molly Woehrlin. “We were able to save a cherished green vista. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved.”