Acorn

Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Floorplan Floorplan for the upcoming renovation of the Tolley-Brown lounge, which, after renovation will see its large storage space converted into usable space including game tables and meeting rooms.

In addition to the new dorm currently under construction, the circle of residences at the rear of campus now has more improvements to look forward to. Director of Special Projects Michael Kopas announced Monday, via e-mail, that work would begin on a renovation of Tolley Brown and the Suites this summer and finish in time for the fall semester.

"Tolley Brown will see more significant improvements," Kopas said. Among these improvements will be improved lighting and new flooring in both the hallways and the dorm rooms. The building will also receive new energy-efficient windows as well as a major renovation of all Tolley-Brown bathrooms and the lounge.

"The gang-style bathrooms that are in there now are going to be turned into single-use bathrooms," Kopas said. "On either side [of the hallway] there will be two little hallways going off to the side. Each of those two hallways will have several single-use bathrooms. We're not reducing the number of toilets or showers. You'll open a door and find a sink, a toilet and a shower in a small bathroom. In addition, there will be a couple that are only toilet and sink. So you can go in there, close the door, shower, do whatever you need to do to get ready in the morning."

In addition to the bathrooms, the other major change in Tolley-Brown will be the lounge. "Right now, the lounge consists of not only the lounge area, but a large storage area toward the circle. That storage area is going to be removed," Kopas said. "The storage room that's currently there has pretty high ceilings. So in the new design, we'll keep that high ceiling, but replace the storage area with a very open lounge entrance with maybe a pool table, maybe a ping-pong table, which will be furthest away from areas where you might study," Kopas said. In addition to the game tables, part of what is currently storage will be replaced by two meeting rooms, which can be reserved for a private meeting. The lounge will also get a new wheelchair-accessible ramp. "Basically," Kopas said, "this storage space is not usable by students, but after the renovation it will be."

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