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December 14, 2004
HIRC plans dorm lounge furniture facelift
While guiding a recent campus tour, HIRC president Jon Guyer led a group of prospective students through the residence halls to give them a taste of college life. He was embarrassed when the group passed a couch missing an arm in a Drew Hall third-floor social lounge.
“Our campus is lacking, especially compared to other campuses,” said Guyer.
Guyer said that he was disappointed with the state of Hamline’s dormitory social lounges even before he became HIRC president last spring, and even then he knew that improving the furniture would be one of his main focuses.
Two weeks ago, he called an open HIRC meeting to discuss the improvements he thought were necessary in each residence hall.
Five people attended the meeting, all of them either HIRC or Hall Council representatives. They voted on their favorite styles, fabrics, and colors of the proposed new furniture. They also decided that of all the residence halls, the social lounges in the Heights and in Sorin needed the most immediate improvement.
“[The furniture in those dorms] is hard to move, it’s big, and it’s old,” Guyer said.
As of now, HIRC doesn’t have spending capital for their proposed renovations. They have received no funding commitment from the university, so they hope to instead utilize the HUSC capital improvement account, Guyer said. Alternate options could include asking for money from either the Physical Plant or the university hall councils.
If all goes as planned, Guyer said, furniture samples from local Adden Furniture will arrive on campus before holiday break and during J-term. Students can test out the furniture and give HIRC their opinions, and permanent fixtures will be installed around spring break in late March.
One of HIRC’s goals, based on student input, is to encourage a friendly and comfortable environment through the addition of more couches rather than chairs. With these renovations, HIRC and Guyer plan to move toward this goal. The new furniture will also be easier to move and rearrange, making the space usable for a variety of purposes.
Osborn resident Solomon Akwaka said he will welcome this change.
“Our lounge furniture is horrible,” he said. “Students don’t utilize the lounge area in our building because they have more comfortable couches in their own rooms.”
Sarah Atwood, a sophomore RA in Sorin, agreed.
“[The furniture] is so gross and it’s stained. I’m afraid to sit on it,” she said. “It’s not very comfortable. I’m sure the new furniture will be better.”
The Drew social lounges are also set to receive a renovation from HIRC this winter.
Posted by msveum at December 14, 2004 10:28 AM