Summer renovations on campus created 63 new student beds by converting office space in Voter Hall, Meeker and Munford houses into residential space for students. Although some staff have been moved to new, permanent spaces, other staff members remain in temporary locations and await completion of further renovations this fall.
The renovation of Meeker House, which now houses the Potluck superblock, created 18 new beds with only two double rooms. Munford House, home of the Comparative Music superblock, has 31 new beds, including just three double rooms. Voter Hall has 14 new beds with two double rooms.
Additional smaller summer renovations included the conversion of vacant apartments at 220 College Street into six student beds and the renovation of Residential Program Coordinator Lee Zerrilla’s former residence at 33 Adirondack View into two student beds.
“The addition of the beds was to replace the 24 beds lost since Fletcher was taken offline as student housing and to accommodate increased enrollment,” said Space Manager Mary Stanley in an e-mail. Last spring, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and Dean of Students Gus Jordan explained that converting Fletcher into office space would eliminate tension between the different schedules of neighborhood residents and students.
Renovation of Voter, Meeker and Munford took place over a 12-week period in the summer, beginning after commencement and ending in time for early arrivals in late August.
Mark Gleason, Project Manager for the Meeker and Munford renovations, noted that completing the renovations in such a short amount of time was “intense,” although overall the renovations “went really well.”
Project Manager for the Voter Hall renovation Tom McGinn explained that the renovation of Voter Hall brought up “fire code compliance issues,” although these were successfully resolved by updating the fire escapes on the building. He emphasized that finishing the project over the summer was a “tight squeeze.”
“Munford is perfect for our superblock’s needs,” said Ty Carleton ’12, the program director of the Comparative Music superblock. “We have plenty of space to hold all the events we want to hold, and the balcony is a really nice touch.”
Although renovations on the residential spaces were completed in time for the start of the 2010-2011 academic year, some college staff remain in temporary offices due to ongoing renovations.
The staff offices formerly located in Meeker House have all been moved to their permanent locations. The Dean of College offices are now located in McCullough. The space in McCullough was vacated by the Alliance for Civic Engagement offices, which have moved to Adirondack House. Student Financial Services are now located on the first floor of Service Building. Institutional Research has moved to Forest near the Registrar’s Office. The Americans With Disabilities Act office remains in the basement of Meeker.
Some offices formerly located in Munford House, however, remain in temporary locations. College Communications staff, currently housed in the old Addison County Courthouse building, will move to Addison House later this fall. The college acquired Addison House, located at 152 College Street, this past spring. Renovations on the old retirement home began this summer, and Gleason estimates the staff will be able to move in early November.
Once the Communications staff has moved out of the old courthouse, some College Advancement staff currently located in Fletcher House will move in to the vacated space. Stanley explained that once this move is complete, Fletcher House will be converted into faculty apartments.
“Renovations [of Fletcher House] will begin as soon as College Advancement is gone, around the end of November,” said Stanley. Stanley anticipates that renovations will be complete in time for rentals the following summer.
Finally, Library and Information Services (LIS) staff who were located on the second floor of Voter have been moved to offices in the Davis library.
McGinn explained that the move for the LIS staff “wasn’t difficult because the college has been consolidating staff” within LIS. Because of this consolidation, there were empty offices already available in the Davis Library.
Both Stanley and McGinn confirmed that renovations of Forest Hall are in the “planning stages” for the summer of 2011.
College undergoes major construction
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