It seems a tour of Oberlin wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Adam Joseph Lewis Center.  There was a time, though, not so long ago, when tour guides had only a bare patch of ground near Harkness Bowl to point to. On Sept. 25, 1998, the school broke that ground.

–The News Team

Today [Sept. 25, 1998] at 4:30 p.m. on Harkness Bowl, 250 guests as well as members of the College and the community will watch the first spades of dirt removed to make room for the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. Environmental Studies Professor David Orr thinks the Environmental Science Building is a step in the right direction for Environmental Science. “The building is just a means. The goal is to revise how we think about sustainability,” he said.

“The Lewis Building represents a fundamental shift that goes beyond sustainability,” said center architect William McDonough. “This is a great event.”

The Center will include classrooms, an auditorium and a library in addition to its sustainable and regenerative properties. It will include a two-story atrium that will provide Oberlin with a winter garden. McDonough’s interest in ecologically-minded buildings comes from early childhood. He was born in Japan and lived most of his childhood in Hong Kong. “We had four hours of water every fourth day,” he said. “People died of cholera on my doorstep.”

These experiences drove McDonough to think twice about the relationship Americans have with resources.

McDonough said, “There is no reason that the buildings in which we live can’t function like trees. The ESC will accrue solar income to the benefit of living systems and absorb water quickly and release it slowly in a healthy state.”

Adam Joseph Lewis, for whom the building is named, is a young philanthropist whose activities have focused on holistic health, care of the environment and international health, education and ecological issues. His initial $1 million contribution for the building was the cornerstone for additional philanthropy. The total family commitment totals $3.25 million.

“For many years I have searched for examples of where one can give as much to his environment as one takes,” said Lewis. “This center is a paragon of environmental design. I am so pleased to support the center, and more pleased that we all will continue to learn from it.”