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A Grand Opening for Hawthorn
 The wait was officially over on February 24, as Penn State Altoona unveiled its new classroom
building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening event.
Although a number of classes began the spring semester in the new Hawthorn Building in
January, the College officially celebrated the completion of this remarkable building on this
date. Keeping in line with the College tradition of naming its buildings after trees, the new
classroom building was christened “Hawthorn,” a thorny tree or shrub bearing white or pinkish
flowers and reddish fruit. However, many folks on campus appreciate the subtle, albeit
unintentional, academic reference to the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The new Hawthorn Building houses 56 faculty offices and 24 classrooms, including a music
rehearsal room and three computer classrooms.
The $6.5 million building consists of approximately 58,800 square feet. Of that total square
footage, 10,000 square feet is dedicated to a computer center with supporting offices and
classrooms. The College’s computer labs and staff offices that had been located in the library
were relocated to the Hawthorn Building in March.
The Hawthorn Building also contains general classrooms, seminar rooms, a lecture hall, the
Pechter Family Music Room (see story below), a food service area, and faculty offices.
Funding of the project was administered by the PA Department of
General Services in Harrisburg and the regional office in Pittsburgh.
As a trained classical pianist and patron
of the arts, Shirley Pechter has had a
lifelong love of music and the arts. She
has illustrated her commitment to the arts by
providing financial support to build a multipurpose
music studio inside the College’s new
Hawthorn Building.
 Equipped with a grand piano, sound acoustics,
and plenty of floor space, the Pechter Studio of
Music offers
a dedicated
area for
students to
practice
their music
or rehearse
outside of
class. With
the growth
of Penn
State
Altoona’s integrative arts degree, the need for
such a space has never been greater.
Pechter recalls her personal experiences in
finding suitable rehearsal space as a student at
Goucher College in Maryland and the Peabody
Conservancy in Baltimore. That led her to the
decision to help ensure that students at Penn
State Altoona won’t have the same challenges in
finding a place to practice their music.
“Now that Penn State Altoona
is a four-year college and can
provide our students with a
variety of opportunities in the
arts, I’m pleased that I can
contribute to their experience
and their study of the arts.”
—SHIRLEY PECHTER
States N. Susan Woodring, director of
development and alumni relations, “The spirit
of Shirley’s influence inside Blair County and
beyond is very broad. Through her
philanthropy, Shirley makes a difference in the
daily lives of those she encounters and those
who have benefitted from her generosity without
ever having had the privilege of meeting her.”
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