To escape the blaze, I have moved to a "satellite office" across campus. Buchman Pavilion was built in 2001 with lead gift from Natalie Buchman. Constructed in an age much closer to the apocalypse, Buchman Pavilion is swimming in air conditioning. The room has a gracious, open ambiance, a centerpiece glass dome surrounded by columns and the Russell Sage College seal jig-saw puzzled into the tile floor. There is a scattering of sofas, tables and chairs, with a convenient coffee bar serving Starbucks.
The space is cleverly designed to connect three or four buildings--Sage Hall (a dormitory with a bistro grill), the classrooms of Gurley and Walker Halls and even the back of Bush Memorial. This officially makes Buchman a hub through which you must pass, a central location for coffee, dining, seeing others and being seen. Additionally, it faces a walking mall over what used to be Ferry Street, before the underpass. A vista of glass opens the possibility for even more people watching as Sage employees pass on the mall between First and Second Street--into the library, into the copy center, into Science Hall and out of public safety.
It's a wonder I can get any work done in Buchman at all.
A friend of mine noted that college campuses can be intimidating to "civilians" who may feel that dining halls, academic theatres and lecture spaces are hard to find, that the overabundant energy of youth can create a microcosm crowding out interested seniors and others. If so, this is a shame. Buildings like Buchman Pavilion have a lot to offer in a community like Troy. Coffee and pastries for ladies who lunch, a respite for frazzled clerks from the courthouse and a comfortable rendezvous spot for those who need one.
Today, I blog, I chat, I eat and I drink, in comfort. Thank you, Natalie Buchman.
Post Script: Maxine, my canine office mate and friend, passed away on July 2.
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