Courts Decide Fate of New Building

Because the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center will use 46 percent less energy than the current national benchmark, College planners expect a gold or platinum rating from the National Energy Council. Less certain is when construction will actually begin. Even though all permits are in place and. obsolete buildings on the site (near the Vail-Remsen complex on the north campus) have been razed, the College is still expending a lot of energy trying to get the project off the ground—six months after it had initially hoped to start building.

Holding up construction is a lawsuit against the town of Hanover by homeowners in the nearby posh Occom Ridge neighborhood. They claim the town should not have approved the project because the life sciences building, which houses labs, will sit in Hanover's "institutional zone." Research labs in that zone require a special exception. Not so, rebuts the town and the College: The class of 1978 building is a classroom building and its labs are central to the educational mission. The College has already built similar buildings in the institutional zone without a special exception.

After a March hearing, a decision is pending. Even if the town wins, construction may still be delayed because the neighbors have the option of appealing to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the delay comes at a price. College officials estimate inflation will add between 4 and 6 percent to the project.

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The Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College v. Trustees of Dartmouth College lawsuit will be heard in November in New Hampshire's Grafton Country Superior Court and is expected to last five to seven days. All phases of discovery are to be completed by October 15.