Despite claims last year that new and refurbished social and study places would be open when students returned to campus this semester, the doors to many of the spaces scheduled for renovations over the summer remain closed.
Many of the improved lounges and new 24-hour study spaces and exercise rooms are still closed to students or outfitted with temporary furnishings because of delivery and construction delays, said David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services.
Tables, chairs, couches and light fixtures from companies spanning the globe have been delayed and back-ordered, Greene said.
Even the weather has done its part to impede the completion of these renovated spaces - hurricanes have stranded one delivery off the coast of Florida, Greene said.
Construction complications further delayed the scheduled remodeling. Lead paint in Keeney Quad's Arnold Lounge had to be removed because a new coat of paint would not stick, Greene said. Because of the hazards involved in removing lead paint, a specialist had to be hired at extra cost to remove it safely.
Due to unexpectedly high construction bids and other unforeseen issues, extra funds had to be secured and some plans had to be cut, Greene said. Some lounges in Andrews House were passed over for renovations, and other plans for ordering new lighting, flooring and furnishing were adjusted.
The new facilities, expected to all be completed by Oct. 8, include completely refurbished lounges in Barbour Hall and Keeney, a movie theater-equipped lounge in Andrews, new 24-hour study spaces in New Pembroke 4 and the Lower Blue Room and two satellite fitness facilities in Emery-Woolley and Keeney, Greene said.
The two exercise rooms opened Tuesday to mixed reviews.
"I just miss having the lounge and going down in my PJs," said Jayesh Needham '07, a minority peer counselor in Woolley. "I kind of miss the lounge a little bit, even though I will probably use the exercise room there."
"It was good for me, because it has the appropriate equipment for me as a beginner and I can work myself up and into a routine because it is so close," said Monica Pelayo '08, who lives in Keeney. "It's a great place to meet your neighbors you never knew you had, and it's a great hang-out place."
The hallways and lounges of Machado House and Caswell, Hegeman, Miller and Metcalf halls have received new carpeting, coats of paint and lighting.
The Lower Blue Room will be a 24-hour study space on school nights. It is open now and temporarily features the old furniture. Greene said plans currently call for the new space to open Sept. 24, but he cautioned that more delays are possible.
The improvements are partly a result of a report submitted last year to campus life administrators by Sonia Gupta '06, last year's chair of the Undergraduate Council of Students' Admissions and Student Services Committee, and Ari Savitzky '06, last year's chair of the UCS Campus Life Committee. Over the summer, Gupta and Savitzky worked with the Office of Campus Life and Student Services to achieve the improvements planned for this summer.
Even when the immediate delays are worked out, the process of renovations is "obviously not done, because this is a project going on forever," Savitzky said. "The challenge is for this year's UCS to keep this ongoing."
Greene and UCS have identified the need for community space in all the dorms and elsewhere on campus and to create the spaces for distinctive purposes, Greene said.
"There is some sense that people will take better care of their facilities if (the facilities) are more pleasant," he said.
Herald staff writer Jonathan Herman '07 can be reached at herald@browndailyherald.com.
