The year-long Eddy Hall renovation in the heart of campus that displaced students, faculty and staff is finally complete. After waiting for the completion, many students, faculty and staff are able to enjoy the many new additions that fixed the building built in 1963.
This $12 million renovation of Willard O. Eddy Hall is the first in its 51-year lifespan, and has added many new features, such as gender-neutral bathrooms, wider doorways and halls and a printing lab for Liberal Arts students to use for free, according to SOURCE.
Frequent power outages caused problems for students and professors to stay focused, according to a student who had class in the basement prior to the renovation.
“The power sporadically went out,” said Emily Brang, a senior social work major. “Sometimes the teacher would just let us leave because we couldn’t see anything. Now it looks so colorful and unique. It’s not just brick walls anymore.”
Since Eddy housed multiple departments and classrooms during the year it was under renovation, those classrooms and offices were relocated across campus to different buildings, such as the Behavioral Sciences Building and Ingersoll. One professor said that after being relocated for the past year, she now appreciates a welcoming learning environment.
“It (was) a 15 minute walk, which (wasn’t) bad if you just want to walk, but if you’re on a time schedule, it (could) be hard,” said Judith Lane, an English professor at CSU. “(The renovation is) more welcoming, brighter. It’s almost a good thing we were away because it really makes us appreciate it.”
Lane said she found it difficult to connect with students due to odd office hours and different meeting places each week. She said she now feels closer to other staff because she only needs to walk down the hall for help on items such as Canvas.
“It’s nice being in the same building as everyone because if you have a question for someone, you can just walk down the hall and ask them,” Lane said.”There’s just a sense of closeness that’s hard to maintain when you’re spread out. One of the best things is now students know where to find us. It’s crucial. I want to encourage students to come in and talk because classes can be very large and you can’t always get a one-on-one with each student.”
Others said that even with all of the additional construction projects around campus, Eddy’s was necessary.
“Eddy Hall was so old and antiquated, ” said Andy Schafer, a senior economics major. “I don’t think it should have been first priority on campus, but it was definitely needed. The University is doing renovations on everything, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. I haven’t been into the new hall yet, but I’ve heard really good things about it.”
Collegian Reporter Dallas Head can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @water4rams.
