Major Investments and Donations

��ϰٿ� chooses to invest in the local community � both to contribute responsibly to important public resources and also to help the town be a strong asset in attracting students, faculty, and staff. Since the Community Enhancement (now Community Partnerships, Planning, and Research) office was formalized in 1999, ��ϰٿ� has invested over $10 million in community development initiatives.

Focus Areas

��ϰٿ�'s local investments have supported College and community strategic priorities, such as:

education
healthcare
public infrastructure
downtown development
historic preservation/adaptive re-use
parks and recreation
economic development

Considerations

When considering participation, ��ϰٿ� works with community leadership on a project-by-project basis and typically looks for:

impact on the College and broader community
degree of community support/partnership

Financial Approaches

��ϰٿ� employs a varied toolbox, customizing the financial approach to the project at hand. Approaches we have used to date include:

Donations. Cash or real estate donations to community capital improvements. Past examples include:

medical center improvements
high school additions/renovations (gym, auditorium, and science wing)
public safety building
public library
park and trail improvements

Investments. Equity investments in local LLCs with community enhancement purposes. Current examples include:

Strand Theatre, LLC
Greater ��ϰٿ� Development Inc.

Campus Improvements with a Community Focus. Improvements to College facilities specifically designed to address both campus and community needs, including:

Old Glove Factory: Adaptive reuse of a historic manufacturing plant into College offices and community meeting space.
8th Avenue: Traffic calming, as well as service and streetscape improvements for a city street bisecting campus.
Pioneer Bookshop: College bookstore on the downtown square.
Natatorium: College aquatic center designed to accommodate both campus and community competitive swimming including youth and high school swim teams.
Renfrow Hall: A unique facility at the nexus between the College campus and ��ϰٿ�'s central business district. This project, comprised of a student residence and the Katherine Howell Weingart '61 Civic Innovation Pavilion, honors Edith Renfrow Smith, ��ϰٿ� class of �37 and ��ϰٿ� High School class of �32 � and, like its namesake, links the town and College together in shared experiences.

Buying Local. Each year, ��ϰٿ� student spending contributes over $4 million in local economic impact. In 2023, a student initiative expanded on this, working with Dining Services to create a Downtown Dining Dollars program at ��ϰٿ� businesses, which now includes six local establishments. The College does not currently collect any income from these transactions. Instead, local businesses receive all payments directly from students� dining dollar balances through the College dining card system (excluding small service and transaction fees), with the added bonus of reimbursing all businesses within 48 hours of purchase.

��ϰٿ� establishments accepting dining dollars include:

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