Places and Spaces

The Michael P. O’Brien arena is a radical place on campus. When no one is in the arena but yourself, it’s fairly quiet but not quite isolated. Other times it is a loud and bustling place for people to play sports or watch a performance. The rules pertaining to the arena’s usage are a bit strict, and it was locked when I visited. When it is open, it becomes a place to be entertained with other many other people, though it is not as personally sociable like the Daily Grind area is.

The Shoe Tree is an example of something that is both public and private. The tangle of footwear can be viewed as a public sculpture, but the purpose remains a mystery to those that weren’t in the loop originally, giving the tree some private meaning and ascending it to the status of an enigma. Examination of some of the shoes and the cords that hold them lead me to believe that people have been adding shoes to the tree for a long time. Perhaps the senior class leaves some of their shoes to symbolize that they’ll always be a part of the college.

The area outside of the campus store is an obvious social gathering place with a coffee shop literally steps away, but it’s also a sort of central hub for college life. Books are there, food is there, just about everything you could need is around that spot. I noted a few people sitting at one of the tables having a conversation and one or two in the campus store, with a few more people walking through. The Daily Grind/campus store area is truly the path most traveled around here.

The historic area’s coffeehouse is an odd specimen in that it isn’t used for its intended purpose anymore. A few centuries ago it was a social gathering place where people would chat over coffee and other drinks, much like the Daily Grind. Today it is the equivalent of an artifact in a museum, something that remains so the past isn’t forgotten. One specific element of the coffeehouse is the small doorway that many people today would not be able to fit in comfortably. It’s clear that people were shorter on average just by looking at one part of the building.

The bench and memorial at the cemetery is an oddball compared to the rest of the scenery. The memorial is a plaque facing the sea and was made in memory of Justin Bates, the son of two faculty members here. His death was untimely and he is missed by many, but he is not completely gone. People often leave mementos at the site and there are even a few social gatherings in the vicinity. Doing some research, I also learned that there is a Justin Bates Memorial scholarship, which is an honour to say the least. Similar to the shoe tree, Justin left a part of himself at the school, as the plaque well states, but also lives on in the memories of those who knew him.

St. Mary’s Hall is both similar and dissimilar to the ARC arena in that performances are held in both, but the Hall almost seems hidden; when you walk in it is unlike any other place on campus. It’s eerily quiet, and when a performance is held there it’s as if the rest of the world doesn’t matter, just for that moment. The stage is large enough for a few people and there are a little over a hundred seats for the audience, so the performances seem more personal.

Alan Sokol