The Pulteney St. Survey

What’s Old Is New Again

MAGGIE SMITH ’12

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

Major: Architectural Studies

Beyond HWS: Smith is enrolled at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design for graduate studies in Historic Preservation and Architecture

Studied abroad in Bath, England

Captain of the William Smith rowing team

Completed the HWS Leads Certificate

The view from the top of St. Mark’s Tower is truly spectacular, but on a windy day in March, William Smith senior Maggie Smith is more interested in mortar and masonry joints than in the blue waters of Seneca Lake. Joining Smith high atop campus are Quinn Schwenker ’95 and Katherine McDowell Frey from Ford3 Architects, who are working on a preservation study of St. John’s Chapel and St. Mark’s Tower for Hobart and William Smith.

As an on- campus representative for Ford3, Smith, who has previous experience as an intern at architecture firms in Baltimore, Md., and Bath, England, spent much of the spring semester going over old blueprints and gathering data that will help Schwenker and Frey track the evolution of the building over time. “The Chapel is more than 150 years old,” says Frey, “Our goal is to determine how the building has changed and to document its condition.”

Once their study is complete, Ford3 will prepare a comprehensive plan to restore and conserve the Chapel so that students, faculty and staff can appreciate the building for generations to come.

“My interests intersect at preservation, architecture and sociology. I want to preserve historic buildings, but I also want to make them work for people,” says Smith, who will study architecture, preservation and planning at the University of Pennsylvania this fall. “I felt an instant connection to Philadelphia. There are so many old buildings there, so many things waiting to be rediscovered and revived.”