By Allison Mudge
It’s one of Northeastern’s very own urban legends: Is Smith Hall really sinking?
“Everybody in the building pretty much knew and everybody talked about how it was sinking,” said Nick Barsotti, a sophomore mechanical engineering major who lived in Smith last year. “You can actually notice that one side of the whole building is lower than the other one. When you looked at the front and when you walked down the hallway you could feel yourself going downhill.”
Larry Mucciolo, senior vice president of finance and administration, said Northeastern has had a problem with “settlement” of the building. The topic of the building briefly came up at an August meeting of the Community Task Force.
In 2002, $2 million worth of repairs were made on Smith. Around the same time as the repairs, Northeastern reviewed the foundation of the building with a geotechnical consultant and structural engineers, said Dan Bourque, vice president of facilities.
Smith was constructed in 1902 as a home for New England Conservatory students. Northeastern acquired the freshman residence hall in 1960.
Most of the buildings constructed in the Fenway, Back Bay and South End areas during the era were built on wood piles and granite cap foundation systems, Bourque said. Smith was one of many buildings erected on filled land, or ground that was once a swamp or tidal area. Because of this, Smith Hall has settled back into the ground over the past 100 years.
In addition, there has been a lowering of groundwater in the Fenway and Back Bay, which caused distress to foundation systems, Bourque said.
Nora Cahillane, a sophomore communications major who also lived in Smith last year, did not hear any rumors of the building sinking but said the problem was obvious.
“We used to joke about it; you could see the doors sloping down and the walls were uneven and tipped different ways,” she said.
Others said the only annoyance the settling of the building caused was that his drawers would often fall open.
“You could put a ball in our room and it would just roll to one side,” said David Carmichael, a criminal justice major and Barsotti’s former roommate.
Despite these inconveniences, Bourque said the building structure isn’t cause for concern.
“The building itself is still a very safe and viable residence hall,” Bourque said.
Uneven door frames and outdated restrooms may be more serious concerns for students.
Mice could be spotted running through the uneven door frames, Carmichael and Barsotti said.
“There was a definite mice problem and we also saw cockroaches,” Cahillane said.
The facilities were also an issue for residents.
“The bathrooms were pretty dirty,” Barsotti said. “There was mold on the ceilings of some of them and stuff hanging down.”
Even with West Village F set to open for freshmen next fall, demand for university housing will remain strong, Bourque said. Smith will continue to be used as a dormitory for many years, so residents need not start packing their bags yet.
“We monitor our buildings and make needed repairs,” Mucciolo said. “At the Community Task Force I may have alluded to this when I commented on potential maintenance … in the decade ahead.”
