PHOTOS: Four Hidden Places on Campus

From the top of Tomasso to the depths below the Babson World Globe, we take a photographic glimpse at just a few of the unique spaces on campus—vantage points that not many people get to see.
BABSON MAGAZINE: Read the complete Spring 2025 issue.

Top of Tomasso
One of the most iconic images of campus is stately Tomasso Hall, which was built in 1939 and served as the library until 1980. High atop the building—up small staircases and ladders—sits the tower that houses the campus bell, which chimes on the hour and half-hour. The bell now is coordinated with the campus clock system, and very few workers need to access the tight space.

Below the Globe
The Babson World Globe, which was moved from in front of Coleman Hall to Kerry Murphy Healey Park in 2019, is the signature photo spot on campus. But, hidden in its base is a ladder down to the control room, which includes panels for the globe’s rotation and the park’s lighting. Facilities workers visit the concrete enclosure, 50 feet by 50 feet, for routine maintenance about twice a year to change the oil and keep the globe spinning.

Above the Stage
The Carling-Sorenson Theater, inside the Richard & Sandra Sorenson Center for the Arts, hosts many campus performances, events, and lectures. Only performers and guests visit the theater’s green room and backstage, and even fewer people access the catwalk that crawls over the top of the seating area and stage. The vantage point is not for the squeamish but offers unique views of the action below.

Inside a Historic Room
Long admirers of Isaac Newton and collectors of Newton memorabilia, founder Roger Babson and his wife, Grace, purchased Newton’s fore-parlour from his London home in 1938 and placed it within the new Babson Institute Library. The well-maintained room, including the original pine-paneled walls and carved mantel, now resides on the third floor of Horn Library and serves as a special meeting space.
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