The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 59

Practical Matters
37
of underground parking, thus freeing up some surface parking
lots, including 222 College Street.
In 1992, the Fields Institute could not occupy an entire
building by itself. The present building was therefore designed
to accommodate tenants on the first floor, tenants that could
later be moved if the space was required for the expansion of
the Fields Institute.
Ground-breaking for the new building took place on
Monday, May 16, 1994. There were some hiccoughs, however,
in the building. Modifications had to be made to remain within
budget. Thus, a grand front entrance and domed library
planned for College Street were abandoned (see drawing on
pages iv–v), and two fireplaces being considered for the
Director’s and Deputy Director’s offices were quietly excised
from the plan. When the first steam shovels began to excavate,
they immediately encountered a large, buried, disused oil tank.
It cost $70,000 to remove this obstacle and then send both the
tank and contaminated soil samples to Sarnia for treatment
and disposal. This was an early blow to the contingency
building fund.
At the request of the Fields Institute, the architects
planned for many formal and informal public spaces within the
building to permit and encourage dialogue, small meetings,
and discussion at blackboards. Offices were kept small, and
were designed to be occupied by two people. This meant
that many discussions and interpersonal interchanges had to
move to the public spaces—to seating areas in corridors, the
atrium, the library, or the staircase. From the beginning,
the choice corner offices on the fourth floor were given to
graduate students, four to an office, rather than to senior
mathematicians.
That the Fields Institute has been successful beyond
the wildest expectations of its early proponents is due to
several foundational convictions. From the beginning, and