Inside the newly renovated FAMS building, part of the expansion of the arts campus.

By Melissa Last ‘17 and Dominique Marcial ‘17

Collaborative Writers

Photo by Willem Ytsma ‘16

A FAMS building was recently renovated on N. Third St. as part of a plan to expand the arts campus.

Renovations were completed for a FAMS building over the summer as part of a continuing plan to expand the college’s arts campus.

The FAMS building, located at 248 N. Third St., is now open for classes during the fall, but a technology room, rehearsal spaces, and offices are scheduled to open later this semester.

The expansion of the new Williams Arts Campus, home to the Lafayette Film and Media Studies Department continues on N. Third St. with the addition of another FAMS building at 219 N. Third St. The project at 219 N. Third St. continues with the goal of opening the building for classes in the spring semester of 2016.

After a delay last year, the project located at 219 N. St., received approval from Easton’s Historical District Commission and City Council to break ground on the former location of the historic Case’s Tire building.

“The project is on schedule,” Director of Facilities and Planning Mary Wilford-Hunt wrote in an email. “We are in the process of installing the foundation system (called micro piles)…Micro piles foundations are commonly used at sites with environmental sensitivity.”

This will be the second part of the ongoing construction at the Williams Arts Campus and will yield two connected buildings that will be home to a screening room and black box theater. A cinema, a box office, a scene shop, and classrooms will also be included in these new buildings. The new black box theater will be named after former president of Lafayette College Daniel H. Weiss and his wife Sandra Jarva Weiss.

Megan Schmidt ‘17, a Film and Media Studies major, is currently enrolled in the Making Media 2 class offered at 248 N. 3rd St. She is enthusiastic about the completion of the rest of the Arts Campus.

“I am most looking forward to the opening of the TV study room because we will be able to study and work with green screen technology that has not been previously offered at Lafayette,” Schmidt said.