By Zack Sampson, News Staff
After most students departed campus for the summer, construction crews entered to renovate several university buildings, providing classroom space and technological upgrades.
Some of the larger renovation projects took place in Richards Hall and Blackman Auditorium, Lucy Warsh, a university spokesperson, said in an email to The News. Warsh said all work is expected to be completed by the start of fall semester, providing no obstacle for students.
Crews added seven classrooms in Richards Hall to ready the building for the Honors Department’s move from West Village F, Warsh said.
Additionally, the third phase of Blackman Auditorium renovations is underway, including “new seats, new dressing rooms and improved access to stage for the physically impaired.”
Student Government Association (SGA) President Mike Sabo said the work in Blackman was “essential” because the auditorium is “one of the signature places on campus that students go to.” He said limited stage space has hampered past events because performers did not have enough room to set up and move.
Sabo cited building renovations and classroom space as top priorities for students, so they rank among SGA’s most important issues. He said many of this summer’s renovations were “university-funded with SGA partnerships.”
Specifically, Sabo said recent renovations to Snell Library were crucial as the university “rethinks what a 21st-century library is,” in terms of technology.
Lesley Milner, associate dean of user services, said library renovations this summer included construction of two new classrooms and renovations of three existing rooms.
The new classrooms will occupy existing areas on the second floor where student seating was moved to provide space, she said. Technical crews are renovating InfoCommons Two and another instruction room to create two “high-tech media” areas, Milner said.
Workers will also remove computers from room 120, she said, making the space into a regular classroom.
Library administrators will also replace all photocopiers with free scanning stations on the third and fourth floors before the fall, leaving two photocopiers through the semester for students to exhaust their funds.
Sabo said new versatile chairs, tables and couches will additionally provide more “flexibility” for students working on projects in Snell.
Milner said the last library project – a complete overhaul of Snell’s cyber cafe – is nearly finished. Argo Tea will replace the Chartwells station.
The renovated facility will offer “much longer hours than we’ve had in the past for food,” Milner said. “They have all new food, a line of food, and their specialty teas. They have coffee and baked goods and sandwiches.”
Warsh said other culinary changes on campus include the replacement of Mondo Subs by Subway in Ryder Hall and a “complete architectural overhaul of cafe space” in Rebecca’s Cafe in Churchill Hall.
Among the university’s other projects, crews entered Kariotis Hall to provide “technological upgrades to classrooms, including new video streaming,” and placed Hubway bike racks near the North Lot, Warsh wrote.
She also wrote that workers upgraded equipment for student athletes in Cabot Sports Medicine and Performance Center and added new fire protection in the Stetson Halls before renovating student lounges and bathrooms in the two freshmen dorms.
