Bicentennial Hall (McCardell Bicentennial Hall, but usually called Bi Hall) is a huge building in the northern region of Middlebury College's campus. Built around 1999 to mark the 200th anniversary of the college's founding in 1800, it has everything from
chemistry labs to an observatory to what is reportedly the largest window in Vermont (but really just a lot of medium-sized
windows put together). Also notable are the Armstrong
Science Library, the Great Hall (which, not surprisingly, is just a really big hall), vending machines sporting everything from ice cream to flavored water beverages and high-tech lecture halls.
A popular place to
study because of its proximity to a number of dorms and plenty of open classrooms, Bi Hall is populated by students just about any hour of the day. The poor cleaning staff usually arrive in the early hours of the morning; if you happen to see
one while studying, you know it's time to get to
bed.
Middlebury adopted an eco-friendly approach to designing the building, which uses locally forested wood on multiple floors and has automatic drapes to block out light pollution. Then again, building a 6-story
science complex can't be great for Mother Nature, though they tried their best.
Overall, a cool building that students, especially
science majors, should take advantage of.
Person visiting Middlebury: "Hey, what's that giant building over by your dorm? Is it a
factory?"
"No, that's Bicentennial Hall, or Bi Hall for
short. It's our largest academic building on campus. It's a cool place to check out and explore."
