Ongoing maintenance and physical improvements to the campus are an ever-present reality for residential institutions of higher education like Geneva College. As a Christ-centered institution, Geneva takes care to steward its resources, supporting its mission of equipping students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor.

Geneva’s mission is most effectively worked out through “life-on-life” instruction, meaning that the 55-acre Beaver Falls, Pa., campus is the home base for the bulk of the college’s work. Maintaining and improving the spaces where students live, learn, work, and compete is essential to the mission.

Tim Baird ’00, vice president of business and finance, says, “A commitment to stewardship motivates improvements in campus life as Geneva College continues to faithfully manage the resources entrusted to us.”

A major milestone in Geneva’s stewardship goals will be achieved in September when the college will complete the final payment on its long-term debt, creating opportunities to increase annual investments in facilities. Some of that investment has already begun in the past year. Here is a summary of the ongoing stewardship of Geneva’s physical campus and some insight into how these improvements serve the mission of the college.

The South End Project, completed in fall 2020, improved areas surrounding the Merriman Athletic Facility (soccer/track) and Conrady Softball Field. This $1 million project, enabled by donated funds, served to beautify the south end of campus and provide an inviting entrance to campus from the downtown Beaver Falls side of the college. Many of the athletic facilities at Geneva are open to the Beaver Falls community. The downtown-facing side of campus, with improved sidewalks, lighting, and aesthetics, serves to make the campus more accessible and attractive. Strong relationships with Beaver Falls and the surrounding area benefit student enrollment and provide opportunities for students to be involved in a local community while in college.

In another recent and ongoing project, the college acquired the former College Hill United Methodist Church (a block away from campus) as the future home of the Music Department (fall 2021) after a six-month process to investigate zoning, review codes, and consult the city of Beaver Falls on its prospective use. Acquiring this building provides more academic, practice, and performance space for students.

According to Baird, “The capital budget will fund aesthetic improvements and furniture for the 17,000-square-foot building that includes a sanctuary with seating for 160 people, a fellowship hall, and an education wing with faculty offices and classrooms.”

A major portion of ongoing campus work includes a renovation of the space outside the Young and Arms halls, including all the area from the apartments down to the campus’s main entrance at the intersection on Highway 18. This renovation entails creating a small lawn between the apartments, accessibility for people with disabilities, new light fixtures, sidewalks, parking, and fencing. The intent is to extend a greater sense of being on campus to the upperclassmen apartments and to increase accessibility and safety for students moving to and from classes, meals, and activities.

To complete this process, it was necessary to remove several vacant homes and the church building that once housed the Geneva RP congregation. That structure was in a state of severe disrepair and had been unfit for human occupancy for many years. Even so, Geneva’s administration took care to approach the removal of the structure with mission in mind.

Before the demolition of the building, the college extended an offer for interested persons to claim the church’s stained-glass windows. Many of the windows were preserved, including one in the First Reformed Presbyterian Church building and two in the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In this small way, the history of the building could be preserved while the unsafe structure was removed.

“One of the seminary’s donors thought that a couple of the larger stained-glass windows from the old Geneva Church would look nice in the main building,” says Mark Sampson, chief administrative officer and director of institutional advancement at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS). “We took a closer look and, sure enough, the windows were almost a perfect fit in the circulation room of the library. Williams Stained Glass did the installation, adding some glass to balance off the windows for a perfect fit, so perfect that visitors to the Seminary think the windows are original. We are delighted to be able to have these small pieces of the denomination’s history in our own historic building, especially since some of our students served in that church.”

Before its final demolition, the Geneva church building also served an important purpose for the community in Beaver Falls and the surrounding area. Geneva arranged with the Beaver Falls Fire Department to stage firefighter training in the building, giving trainees experience with fighting blazes inside the structure. The department also executed a controlled burn on another vacant house on the same construction site, training the department while helping with future renovations.

There are a number of other projects for summer and fall 2021:

A new scoreboard at Reeves Field

Installing an ADA wheelchair lift in the Student Center

Re-paving parking lots from Pearce Hall, behind Memorial Hall and McKee Hall, and through the Tornado Tunnel

New lighting behind Memorial Hall and McKee Hall

New flooring in Pearce Hall and Memorial Hall

A pavilion dedicated to the class of 2020, recognizing their sacrifices during the pandemic.

The work will continue, with plans to improve the interior of the Arms and Young halls looking ahead to 2022–’23. Ongoing maintenance and renovations demonstrate care for Geneva’s campus, providing a beautiful, peaceful, safe, and accessible space to pursue its mission of equipping students for faithful and fruitful service.