Rendering of Bentley Hall that includes the existing Calhoun Hall with the planned two-story addition.
Calhoun Hall student residences will soon be fully renovated to create a new epicenter on Drexel’s campus for honors students, thanks to a $5 million gift from Bentley Systems CEO Greg S. Bentley and his wife, Caroline.
The new Greg and Caroline Bentley Hall will house a true “living/ learning” community for students of the Pennoni Honors College. It will include a new, two-story, glass-and-stone addition of about 10,800 square feet that will house offices and seminar rooms for Pennoni. The honors college sponsors initiatives that serve 1,500 honors program students and the Drexel community at large.
American Campus Communities is the lead developer of the $35 million project. In the first phase of construction, Calhoun Hall will be renovated to accommodate about 380 students and opened fall 2019.
During the second phase of the project, the two-story addition will be completed. Scheduled to open in 2020, the addition will include three seminar rooms, offices for the Pennoni Honors College, and collaborative study and social lounges.
“This is an exciting opportunity to create an intellectual oasis on campus — a place where students from all disciplines can gather to discuss ideas, take seminar-style, cross-disciplinary courses, and learn more about opportunities for research, fellowships and mentoring on campus,” says Paula Marantz Cohen, dean of the Pennoni Honors College.