A Proper Loading Dock

I have grown accustomed to the glaring looks I receive from truck drivers when I ask them to back up our driveway (see left) and offload their deliveries at what passes as our current loading dock. Maneuvering a full-length tractor-trailer towards the ground-level receiving entrance on the north side of our building can be done, but it takes a lot of patience, skill, and luck (see below). Then, once the truck has arrived, we all hope that its lift gate is working properly to lower our crates to the ground. This will all change, though, when we build our new addition.

A proper loading dock is designed for the new north side of the building (see below). The approach will include a wider turning area in front of the Andover Inn for those long trailers, and a shorter, straighter driveway to our new, raised truck entrance. A dock leveler will be in place to access trucks of various heights and crates will be able to roll smoothly right off the back of the truck and straight into our building. This is key when moving large crates such as those for our Thomas Eakins Professor Rowland or our Frank Stella East Broadway and far safer for all artwork.

The current plan calls for the dock area to be gated with a screening material similar to that cladding the exterior of the addition’s glass walls. This will help mask the dock door and the employee entrance from passers-by on Chapel Avenue.

The best part of our new loading dock, though, will be the smiles we’ll receive from the truck drivers when they see how much easier it will be to approach our building.


James M. Sousa
Associate Registrar for Collections and Archives