Ridgewood Festival 1974: Groups of bell-bottom and peace sign-clad students gather on the grass outside of Ridgewood Dorm. Some eagerly discuss the latest campus poetry workshop, others groove to the beat of totally far-out rock. Reflecting with nostalgia on events like "Ridgewood Festival," Brandeis alumni who roamed the hallways of Ridgewood more than three decades ago expressed fond memories of days spent hanging out in a dorm all the way at the campus' edge. After Ridgewood's five buildings crumbled underneath University bulldozers last summer, all that remained were the memories of wild times and indelible experience.

"It was the coolest place to be on campus," remembers Jim Daniels '74, who lived in Ridgewood his first-year, sophomore and junior years. "It breaks my heart that they're tearing it down."

Cliff Cohn '73 still recalls some of the distinct personalities that lived with him in Ridgewood. Once party-hard, thrill-seeking teenagers, many of the names he mentioned are now distinguished professionals, including Hollywood producer Marshall Herskovitz, whose works include Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai; Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Eddie Farhi; and head of the Anti-Defamation League David Friedman.

"Ridgewood was so diverse," he says.

Cohn's laugh grows louder, even more youthful-sounding as he begins to describe some of the pranks that his rowdy Ridgewood crowd pulled.

"We had a guy who was a genius on telephones," he says. "He had figured out a way for us to use the pay phone in the hall to make free calls all over the world."

Sounding as excited as if the scene were right now unfolding before his eyes, Cohn remembers, "One of our friends called the Vatican-he wanted to talk to the Pope!"

When Cohn returned to Brandeis years after his graduation, he was delighted to find record of the fun times he enjoyed in Ridgewood.

"My freshman roommate and I had a dartboard on our door," he explains. "It created a circle where the dartboard was and all around it were the holes. When we came back for our 25th reunion, the holes were still there!"

Remnants of destruction-also known as archaeological evidence of generations past-were not the only casualties of the Ridgewood demolition.

Daniels remembers looking forward every year to "Ridgewood Festival," an annual event that featured live music outside of the dorms, and no longer exists.

The enthusiasm of three decades past still lingering in his voice, Daniels describes, "Bands would come and we'd party all night."

Thirty years ago Ridgewood was an all-male dorm, and was populated by students of all ages, unlike the University's current method of separating student housing by class year.

Always one of the most desirable places to live, Ridgewood differed from other dorms because of its size and location. Prior to the creation of Ridgewood suites that held 100 students in the early 90s, Ridgewood initially contained single and double rooms that housed 240 students, according to An Architectural Celebration of Brandeis University's 50th Anniversary, by Prof. Gerald S. Bernstein.

Each of Ridgewood's five buildings comprised two floors that held approximately 25 people each. It was therefore very easy to get to know all your Ridgewood neighbors, says Steve Schmidt '74, who lived in Ridgewood his first year at Brandeis.

For Daniels, Ridgewood's small size provided him with a unique sense of community and belonging.

"It was like a big family," he says. "You knew everyone. It was like a subset of the Brandeis community."

Located on the outskirts of campus, Ridgewood simultaneously offered students the benefits of on-campus housing and a certain sense of distance from the daily hustle and bustle of campus life.

"I liked the way we were at the edge of campus," Schmidt says. "We were a freer bunch."

Ridgewood's proximity to the commuter rail made it easy for students to hop on the commuter rail and head into Boston or Cambridge. "I liked to go into the city a lot" to visit friends at other colleges in the Boston area, says Donald Stewart '76, who lived in Ridgewood his first, sophomore and junior years.

Cohn says that Ridgewood attracted a unique, fun-loving crowd. "All the people wanting to be a little bit separated from Brandeis," he said.

The upbeat social scene that characterized Ridgewood remained unchanged through last year. Eugene Vortsman '08, who lived in Ridgewood last year, says his suite was always the place to go for uninhibited fun.

"The entire living room would be packed with people, everyone jumping and dancing on the couch, sweaty," he says.

Vortsman says there was always someone to hang out with in his suite. "Any time of night or day, you could yell out the world 'Smash!' and someone would say 'I'm in,'" he says, referring to the video game Smash Bros.

Alumni remember the quirky architecture that set Ridgewood apart from other buildings on campus and gave it a more secluded feel than other dorms.

"It was kind of cool," Stewart reflects. "All the rooms had back doors, like private entrances."

In fact, Ridgewood's construction and location entirely ignore the Saarinen Master Plan designed by Eero Saarinen in 1950.

"The decision to take down Ridgewood was a difficult one," Vice President for Capital Projects Dan Feldman wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. The decision was part of a plan the University developed in 1999 to improve undergraduate housing and to provide on-campus housing to 90 percent of undergraduates, Feldman said.

Feldman said the University would not be able to renovate Ridgewood and maintain the apartment-style housing that students prefer. It could also not renovate the dorm in accordance with environmental standards.

"The old Ridgewood Quad Buildings were highly inefficient from an energy-use standpoint," Feldman wrote. "The new Ridgewood Residence Halls, on the other hand, have been designed with environmental responsibility as a fundamental."

The University aims to replace Ridgewood and Ziv Commons with three new buildings by December 2008. The buildings will house 184 students in apartments with single bedrooms, kitchens and livings rooms, according to the Office of Capital Projects. One of the buildings will hold the South Campus Commons, a 3,200-square-foot multipurpose space for campus programs and events and a kitchen for large group meals.

Tom Hier of Biddison Hier is in charge of programming for the new Ridgewood residence halls. In 1999, Hier helped the University create its plan for undergraduate housing. William Rawn Associates architectural firm designed the new buildings.

The construction project also includes the creation of an admissions quad; a south campus quad in between the three new Ridgewood Residence Hall buildings and the Village; and an open space surrounded by Ridgewood Building B and the north and west buildings of Ziv Quad. The University also plans to build a landscape connection from Shapiro Admissions Center to the Theater Lot, facilitating travel in the south residential area for people with mobility challenges.

As the sounds of energetic crowds and lively parties are replaced by the discordant melody of drills and jackhammers, generations of alumni still remember living in Ridgewood as the most exciting part of their Brandeis experience.

Vortsman expressed doubt that future students could like living in any building as much as he enjoyed living in Ridgewood.

"I have good memories of that place," he said. "It was what college should be like.