Students, resident assistants and Housing and Dining employees crowded Centennial Hall's first floor lounge for the brief ceremony, which gave residents the opportunity to hear about the renovation process from many of the individuals who helped plan the changes.
Housing and Dining Programs Executive Director Chris Moody explained how the renovation took almost a year to plan and execute.
Angela Nagy, Centennial's third floor RA, coordinated the ceremony
"The new changes are hip, usable and create an environment that makes students feel more at home," she said.
The university built Centennial Hall in 1987, in a rushed 119 days, which left many lasting problems. This was especially the case within the building's ventilation system. Changes to the building include a fresh layer of paint, the replacement of the building's original exhaust system and plumbing, as well as many air conditioning components. They also renovated bathrooms in order to increase privacy by adding a private shower and stall doors. Additionally, Moody explained the installation of new, environmentally sustainable carpet tiles. If there is damage to the tiles, someone will only need to remove the one faulty tile, rather than the whole room's carpet.
Autumn Gill, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said she thinks the renovated bathrooms are nice.
"I like how you can have three or four people in there at once," she said.
Marc Thuot, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Kogod School of Business, said he felt that the renovations were thorough and overall very satisfactory.
"Living in Centennial is definitely a step up from last year when I lived in Letts," he said. "I can only imagine how bad it was before the renovation."
The university completely redid the building's lounges, which now feature coffee tables, multi-textured furniture and custom-made dining tables.
Nagy said she noticed how the new lounges have already dramatically changed the dynamic of her floor, saying the room's more inviting atmosphere has helped her residents mingle.
"The lounge is no longer a boring, stale room with white walls where no one wants to hang out," she said. "People come out and have big-time dinners on the kitchen table or study. It's really relaxing and social."
The building's renovation was part of a 10-year project Housing and Dining undertook to update all of the residential buildings on campus. Centennial is the second to be redone, as the university refurbished Leonard a few summers ago. The next building on the list is the south side of Anderson Hall, which is currently in the planning stages.
The Anderson renovations will focus on public spaces, Moody said.
"We are going to redo the lobby to create some casual social space with couches and tables," he said. "We would also like to improve the lounges and increase privacy inside the bathrooms."
Housing and Dining expects to complete the Anderson renovation by summer 2010, Moody said.
You can reach this staff writer at thallerman@theeagleonline.com.
