Centre Facilities

Centre offers outstanding facilities that reflect and reinforce the quality of a Centre education. Old Centre, our main administration building, was begun in 1819 and is an outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture (white columns and brick construction). Our Norton Center for the Arts has been widely acclaimed as one of America's best performance centers. In addition, our residence halls are varied and appealing, and our classroom buildings are convenient and contain the latest equipment and instrumentation. But Centre never stands still, and we continue to enhance our 178-acre campus. The College's master plan for building and renovation guides a program of physical improvements into the coming decade. The Initiative for Wellness and Athletic Excellence, a $50 million complex, will open in 2023. A new residential building opened in the fall of 2019. A major renovation and expansion of Olin Hall, for science and mathematics, opened in 2021. The South Fields expansion completed in 2017 includes a natural grass soccer field, a 7,000-square-foot building with locker rooms for five teams, and a multipurpose building. Brockman Residential Commons, a 124-bed concept in student living built around five clusters of buildings, opened in 2012. 

The following list describes some of the major buildings on campus.

Old Centre

The first building of the College, Old Centre is listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places. The six-column Greek Revival front portico and wings were added to the original Federal building in 1841. During the Civil War, Confederate and later Union troops used the building as a hospital before and after the nearby Battle of Perryville. Old Centre now houses offices, including for the president and vice president for academic affairs, as well as the Admission Office reception area.

Boles Hall

Built in 1997 as a mirror image to the 1940 Wiseman Hall, Boles Hall is named for a former Centre board chair and since 2015 has housed most of the Admission and Financial Aid offices.

Norton Center for the Arts

Each year the Norton Center offers a breath-taking array of entertainment: cellist Yo-Yo Ma, singers Bobby McFerrin and Alison Krauss, Broadway shows Jersey Boys and Steel Magnolias, and the Boston Pops, to name a few. The Norton Center has also been the site for two Vice Presidential Debates, in 2012 and 2000. Students often work backstage during these events or help take important visitors to and from the airport. In addition, some artists—flutist James Galway and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, to name just two—offer master classes for interested students. The 85,000-square-foot Norton Center complex, was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and includes the 1,500-seat Newlin Hall. At the back of the complex are the more intimate 367-seat Weisiger Theatre and Grant Hall, which includes classrooms, studios, and offices for drama and music faculty.

Crounse Hall, Grace Doherty Library, and the Learning Commons 

Crounse Hall includes classrooms and offices for humanities and social science faculty members. The Vahlkamp Theater (a small movie theater) and the Media Suite where students may produce a podcast or work on editing projects are on the lower level. Also on the lower level is the Muslim Student Prayer Space, several reservable study rooms, and comfortable seating for private study. The front and main section of the Crounse building is occupied by Grace Doherty Library and the Learning Commons. The Learning Commons is devoted to student success and connects tutoring for most programs, as well as assisting students with necessary accommodations for learning. The Commons is developing a peer mentoring program and provides a hub for student success initiatives. A computer lab equipped with a teaching station, computers, and a presentation screen is available on the lower level of the library. There are computers available on the main floor of the library and laptops, video cameras, iPads, and other technologies are available for checkout. Also on the main floor are two reservable seminar rooms. Nine study rooms are available for reservation as well.

A quiet reading room on the main floor is often used for small, academic meetings as well as quiet study. Einstein Brother's Bagels is a new addition to the library space. The Special Collections room is located on the main floor of the library and houses archival records of Centre College, as well as rare and fragile materials. Special Collections are made available to patrons and community users by appointment with the library archivist.

The library’s print collection includes approximately 168,000 volumes, as well as 55,500 e-books and 35,033 e-journals. In addition to the primarily free interlibrary service offered to our patrons, a formal agreement grants borrowing privileges at all Kentucky academic libraries to the students and faculty of Centre College. The Grace Doherty Library’s webpage provides online access to such scholarly databases as Academic Search Complete, Web of Science, and JSTOR, among many others. All electronic resources are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students and faculty have access to all library databases from off campus, via their campus email username and password.

Instruction librarians provide research sessions to first-year students each fall as part of theFinding Your Centre course and offer course-specific instruction upon request. One-on-one research consultations are also available for students and faculty during staffed hours at the information desk, via chat service, or by appointment.

The digital librarian assists faculty and students with planning, implementing, and preserving digital projects. The digital librarian oversees all digitization projects and facilitates digitization of materials and developing collections of these materials so they are accessible and sustainable online.

Franklin W. Olin Hall

Olin Hall was built in 1988 with a $3.5-million grant from the F.W. Olin Foundation of New York City. It houses the analytical chemistry, computer science, data science, environmental studies, mathematics, and physics programs. In 2021, a major $8.7 million renovation and expansion opened with support from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.

Young Hall

Named for two early Centre presidents—John C. Young and his son William Young, Class of 1859— Young Hall opened a major addition to the building, certified with the environmental designation LEED gold, in 2010. Young Hall houses the behavioral neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biology, biology, and psychology programs, as well as the synthetic (organic and inorganic) chemists. Outstanding examples of dinosaur fossils and unusual minerals are on display throughout the building.

Jones Visual Arts Center

The Jones Visual Arts Center houses the art and art history programs. It includes a state-of-the-art hot glass studio and the AEGON Gallery for exhibitions of work by student and visiting artists. The drawing and painting studios offer outstanding natural light. There are also studios for ceramics, sculpture, and other media, as well as classrooms and faculty offices.

Sutcliffe Hall

Sutcliffe has three gyms, including Alumni Gymnasium, which was remodeled in 2019 and is the home of Centre's basketball and volleyball programs. Sutcliffe also houses the Buck Fitness Center, a fully equipped fitness facility offering free weight, plate-loaded and machine lifting opportunities, as well as a variety of aerobic machines. The athletic offices, Athletic Hall of Fame, and Hall of Fame Café are all located inside Sutcliffe Hall, as well.

Old Carnegie

Built in 1913 as a library (the industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided $30,000 toward its construction), Carnegie served that purpose until Doherty Library opened in 1967. It currently houses the Center for Global Citizenship and the Center for Career & Professional Development. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Campus Center

The two-story, 50,000-square-foot Campus Center opened in the fall of 2009. The Campus Center includes the Student Life Office as well as space for student organizations and meetings, a multicultural space, fireplaces, and a game area. It also includes two dining facilities: Cowan Dining Commons (the main dining hall) and the Everyday Café (grill/snack bar). It is certified with the environmental designation LEED silver.

Student Residences

Most students live on campus in accommodations that vary from traditional residence halls to townhouse-style apartments. Students also live in the fraternity and sorority houses in Greek Park. Pearl Hall, certified LEED gold, opened in 2008. Brockman Residential Commons, certified LEED silver, opened in 2012. The Northside Residence Hall opened in the fall of 2019.