Written by Danica Loucks
On its 200-acre campus, Bowdoin pampers its student body with an athletic center and multiple gymnasiums; dining halls; a convenience store; a pub and grill; computer labs; and music, science, and general-purpose libraries with a special collections department, a government document collection, and much more. The Olympic-sized pool, collegiate-sized hockey rink, climbing wall, indoor track, dance studio, aerobics room, separate Outing Club building, and squash, basketball, and tennis courts are all available for use by the Bowdoin community year-round. Campus is centered around the Quad but also extends down the road and to the coastal studies research center. Perhaps the most unique thing about Bowdoin's architecture is that each building seems to have its own personality or ambiance.
Bowdoin often renovates the campus in order to provide state-of-the-art facilities for its students. Most recently, the Peter Buck Fitness Center was built and meets the high demand of Bowdoin's athletically oriented student body. Another recent accomplishment is the completion of several LEED-certified buildings, part of Bowdoin's steps toward sustainability. Aesthetically, Bowdoin is a beautiful campus, and one quick glance at the academic quad alone proves that. Regardless of your taste, you’ll find at least one building visually pleasing. Between the gothic Hubbard Hall, the grand-pillared Walker Art Museum, the red-and-white Gibson Hall, the brown-brick Visual Art Center, the red-brick Searles Science/Math Building, the cobblestone Pickard Hall, and the vine-covered red-brick first-year dorms, you’ll see a little of everything at Bowdoin.