By Matt Brown, Multimedia Director.
Educational techniques are innovated. The natural materials evolve over time. Things change. One must strive to have harmony against the crushing chaos, and serenity can be found in the central courtyard.
“You get balance there,” says Larry Ramseyer, director of facilities. “Quite a number of events make it an active space, when those aren’t going on, the serenity aspect returns.”
Created by Alden B. Dow, the courtyard is a place for reflection, and hopefully, education. Although it is mistakenly identified as a Japanese garden, it actually contains natural materials from the Saginaw Valley region. This may be exacerbated by the lack of information in the courtyard, but according to Ramseyer, “the logistics are too tough,” to install signs.
“It reminds me of downstate in Detroit, like the manor houses,” says Isaac Tussey, a student at Delta College. “The wide open grassy areas, with the well trimmed knolls, and the water that goes through it is nice.”
In 1961, Alden B. Dow worked with Dr. William R. Collings, president of Dow Corning Corporation, Phelps Vogelsang, a Midland-area landscape architect, and Dr. Takuma Tono, professor landscape architecture in Tokyo, Japan. Together they made the final selection of the actual trees and shrubs for planting, and the placement of the rocks and fountain.
The school did not finance any of the courtyard biology. All of the trees and shrubs were personal gifts from Dr. Collings. Additionally, employees, alumni and members of the community raised $560,000 for a restoration project in 2010.
“The team that did the restoration, Smith Group out of Ann Arbor, did a lot of research,” said Ramseyer, “[they went] into the Dow archives in Midland to keep the restoration as close to the original intent.”
Alden B. Dow explains the campus, “must recognize the garden to be a product of its own environment. It was designed as the central feature of Delta College and it will become the symbol and character of the school if it is honestly allowed to express itself.”