Landscaping transforms field into 'Hill Square'

With a new name and an updated landscape, freshly revamped Hill Square will be officially dedicated at a celebration for 125 years of coeducation at Penn next November.

Construction on the project -- which will turn the existing area of Hill Field into Hill Square by renovating the block's stretch of Woodland Walk and the surrounding green -- began this month and will continue through the summer, according to University officials.

"Most of the construction and the noisy stuff will be done before the students will be back," Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said, indicating that the walkway would be reopened before the fall semester begins.

The new walkway, however, will be dramatically different from the one now in place, according to planners.

Calling the current stretch of walkway through Hill Field "a temporary walkway... that was always just a temporary fix," University Architect Charles Newman said that the new walkway will replace existing cement with bricks and a granite curb to resemble the walkway through College Green.

Yet most exciting to planners is not the walkway itself, but the bench sculptures that will line its edges. Sculpture artist Jenny Hover will create approximately 22 benches to adorn the path.

"She was commissioned to commemorate women's legacy at Penn," Blaik said, noting that the benches will include quotes from famous female graduates.

Unique to the walkway will be a bridge approximately 10 feet long, about 18 inches above the ground. The bridge will allow the square to be leveled and facilitate drainage, according to officials.

Noting that the transformation of Hill Square will also involve landscaping changes and the removal of the fencing that currently surrounds the block, Blaik said he plans for the square to have an urban quality.

The landscaping will improve recreational space and create an amphitheater area in the corner by Chestnut and 34th streets, according to officials.

"It really has been a collaboration between the sculptor and the landscape architect to create an environmental work of art," Newman said, adding that the project was a larger part of the 25 year Campus Development plans started in 2001.

"We think this is going to extend the center of campus to the North East," Blaik said. "And we think that's an exciting thing."

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