Years after graduating, some of today’s students may return to a campus that contrasts starkly from the one they remember. For the past year and a half, a master plan has been in the works to refresh and reshape campus for the decades ahead.
This proposed master plan, if it receives the necessary approvals, will take place over the course of several years in different phases. Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano commented on the plan’s logistics.
“I can’t speculate on the timeline just because it’s so uncertain right now. But fundamentally, this plan only becomes a reality with support from the community, so fundraising will play a fundamental role in the timeline execution,” Mr. Casertano said.
The master plan is part of the school’s broader Strategic Vision, looking ahead to Haverford’s needs over the coming decades. The goal of the master plan isn’t to build the newest state-of-the-art facilities but rather to benefit students in a variety of ways.
Head of Athletics Mr. Michael Murphy emphasized that the proposed athletic improvements are focused more on how the facilities serve students than how new they appear.
“I want them to say we’ve got facilities that really support the mission of the school and support the needs of the athletic program, so that you boys can have the best experience here as high school athletes,” Mr. Murphy said.
The physical changes are also intended to address broader goals surrounding campus safety and community.
“I think this plan aims to create a safer, more secure campus that maximizes student engagement and maximizes community connection,” Mr. Casertano said.
One area where the school hopes to address those safety concerns is parking. Haverford currently has 297 parking spaces for faculty, students, and visitors, but needs around 400 to accommodate everyone. The shortage leads some drivers to park in the surrounding neighborhood and cross busy streets to enter campus. Not only is there a parking shortage on campus, but the lack of connected roadways within campus forces some traffic back onto Lancaster and Railroad Avenues, creating additional safety concerns with traffic backups at dropoff and pickup times.
The proposed master plan calls for the creation of a two-level parking garage designed to increase the amount of parking spots on campus to 480. A central lane would ramp down to additional parking on the lower level before leading to a roundabout. From there, drivers could exit toward Railroad Avenue, use a right-turn-only exit, or continue along an internal roadway toward the middle and lower school drop-off and pick-up areas. This internal roadway would allow drivers to move between different areas of campus without having to exit onto surrounding roads.
For students who currently drive to school, the proposed changes could make parking one of the most immediately noticeable parts of the master plan.
For students who currently drive to school, the proposed changes could make parking one of the most immediately noticeable parts of the master plan. Sixth Former Hugh Williams, who lives on Panmure Road, sees the proposed garage as one of the plan’s most significant changes.
Williams said, “There’s not going to be terrible parallel parking on Panmure [or] cars getting scraped.”
The proposed location of the parking garage, however, would require another major change. Due to the lack of space on campus, the only feasible location for the proposed garage is the current Memorial Field, where the baseball and soccer teams play. To make room for the parking garage, the master plan would relocate both teams to a redesigned Eagle Field, which would become a shared baseball and soccer field. This relocation would require vacating Panmure Road and removing several school-owned properties.
The proposed changes around Panmure Road have raised concerns among nearby residents about how closing part of the road could affect traffic and access through the neighborhood. In response, the school has met with nearby residents and is pursuing the possibility of returning Buck Lane to two-way traffic.
Sixth Former Conor Morsell, who lives on Panmure Road, said he was initially concerned about how the closure would affect his own travel through the neighborhood.
“I was a little disappointed because I have a lot of friends who live over on the other side of Haverford Avenue… It would be an extra five minutes for my drive,” Morsell said.
However, the possibility of Buck Lane returning to two-way traffic changed his view of the proposal.
Morsell said, “Now that I heard that they’re reopening Buck Lane, I feel very excited about it.”
Beyond changes to parking, roads, and athletic fields, the master plan also proposes major changes to the center of campus.
One of the largest changes proposed is the destruction of the current dining hall and a relocation where the Walk of Virtues currently stands. The Walk of Virtues would be relocated to a more prominent entrance to the quad near the Middle School, where it would serve as a pedestrian connection into the center of campus. The proposed dining hall would take over part of the lower school, which could require some lower school spaces to be reconfigured or expanded elsewhere. The current dining hall, which is roughly 70 years old, was built to accommodate 300 to 400 fewer students than are presently enrolled.
The existing dining hall’s lack of space has created problems beyond crowded lunches, affecting how the school schedules the academic day around getting students through the dining hall.
“We can’t design the academic schedules in the lower, middle, and upper schools through the perspective of what’s the best way to sequence classes for you guys. We have to design them through how we feed you,” Mr. Casertano said. “We just have to get you in there and out of there as quickly as possible.”
The proposed dining hall would provide more space and seating, with enough room for an entire division to potentially eat together at once. Currently, there are often not enough seats despite split lunch times. The additional space would allow schedules to be less oriented around getting students in and out of the dining hall and create more opportunities for students to interact with others outside their usual groups.
“The dining hall is the aspect of the master plan that will have the most meaningful impact on the culture of Haverford and the sense of community that we aspire to create,” Mr. Casertano said.
When the current dining hall is torn down, the master plan proposes constructing a new multipurpose building in its place that could house the Fords Store, business office, and other spaces for students and faculty.
The master plan would also address several limitations in Haverford’s current athletic facilities.
According to Mr. Murphy, Memorial Field is too small.
“Our soccer and baseball fields were both undersized for the level that we play at… Guys have gotten bigger, stronger, more physical,” Mr. Murphy said.
The proposed field would provide more space for both teams while also changing the experience for spectators.
“It’s kind of wedged in there, so the spectator experience […] is kind of detached in some of those places,” Mr. Murphy said.
The proposed design would include bleachers behind home plate and along the baselines for baseball, as well as grandstands with space for both home and visiting spectators during soccer games.
The current fitness center lacks the space and flexibility for cardio, stretching, and other types of fitness beyond the weight room, limiting how the space can serve the school’s needs.
The proposed changes would not only affect the sports fields but also the athletics center itself.
The current fitness center lacks the space and flexibility for cardio, stretching, and other types of fitness beyond the weight room, limiting how the space can serve the school’s needs.
The plan calls for expanding the athletic center onto the current outdoor basketball court, creating a larger fitness center with more open space in the weight room for added safety and greater flexibility for cardio, stretching, and other fitness activities. The expansion would also double the number of squash courts from four to eight, addressing a shortage that currently limits participation and complicates practice scheduling. These facilities aren’t just used by sports teams, but also by students in PE classes and the broader student body.
“People don’t understand how important the strength and conditioning center and what Coach Rosko does [are] because it really impacts all of our athletes and all of our teams and all of our students in terms of their wellness and health and well-being,” Mr. Murphy said.
Several smaller changes throughout campus are also included in the master plan.
The lower school currently lacks adequate outdoor spaces for the school’s youngest students. The master plan proposes new playground areas designed to better serve them. Along with the Lower School, Centennial Hall would also see some renovations. While Centennial remains effective as a performing arts center, unlike the dining hall, it would not see a major overhaul. Instead, renovations would focus primarily on bringing the building up to accessibility standards, including adding an elevator and improving its restroom accommodations.
Other proposed changes focus less on student spaces themselves and more on how the campus operates behind the scenes.
The loading dock is currently situated between the dining hall and middle school and is one of the first things parents and visitors see when they pull into the middle and lower school drop-off and pick-up circle. With the proposed multipurpose building replacing the current dining hall, the loading dock would also be demolished. Under the proposed plan, it would be moved underground with a separate entrance off Railroad Avenue. The move would also address safety concerns, as younger students regularly walk through the area while large delivery trucks pull in and out of the loading dock.
While the master plan lays out a vision for how much of the campus could change, when those changes could become reality still remains uncertain. The plan must receive the necessary municipal approvals, with support from the surrounding community playing an important role in that process. Even if the plan receives those approvals, fundraising would still be needed before many of the proposed changes could become reality. For these reasons, there is currently no set timeline for when construction could begin or when the master plan might be completed.
When asked whether current lower school students could see parts of the master plan come into effect before they graduate, Mr. Casertano said, “I hope so.”
For most current students, the full impact of the plan will not be visible until after they have graduated. By then, much of the campus they return to could look different from the one they attended.
Mr. Casertano said, “I hope that this campus still feels like the school that they went to, but like an enhanced version of that campus and one that they wish they had been able to enjoy when they were students, one that they’re proud of.”