UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Built before 1900 on Penn State’s University Park campus, Pine Cottage and Spruce Cottage originally served as on-campus residences for faculty; a third building, Maple Cottage, was demolished in 1953 after also serving as a sorority house and other student housing. Over the years, Pine Cottage and Spruce Cottage also each housed a sorority, and also academic and administrative offices.
Pine Cottage was built in 1888 and housed Penn State’s commandant of cadets, later serving as the on-campus home for the Office of Telecommunications and the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.
Spruce Cottage, meanwhile, was constructed in 1890 as home to George Gilbert “Swampy” Pond and his family; Pond was dean of the eventual College of Chemistry and Physics, he and his family were very sociable, hosting many gatherings. Hence, Spruce Cottage was fondly nicknamed “Swampscote.”
The building also has served as a guesthouse for distinguished visitors; as a space for women’s conferences and home economics research; and various departments, including the campus police, the Offices of Mail and Telephone Services, the Department of Publications and the Office of Summer Sessions.
Now, the cottages are used for an entirely different (and perhaps surprising) purpose: simulated crime scenes. Penn State’s Forensic Science program oversees the two cottages, using the facilities to stage crime scene investigations for student instruction.
The houses are valuable assets for the forensic science program and club, said Cheri McConnell, Class of 2005, who oversees the groups — especially considering that the cottages were almost razed about a decade ago.
Bob Shaler acted as the program’s original director, arriving at Penn State in 2005; McConnell began in the department a few months later. A third cottage, Burch, was torn down for the new chemistry building that year, and after Shaler championed to keep Pine Cottage and Spruce Cottage for the forensic science program, the two facilities began serving in their current capacity in spring 2006.
McConnell said the forensic science program is two-thirds hands-on experience, one-third lectures, and this is where the cottages really make a difference. Other universities, she said, have one large warehouse, wherein movable walls are placed to simulate several rooms. But Penn State can replicate a more realistic crime scene, including staging an outside scene on the cottage lawn.