Proctor renovations spark nostalgia

Author: Cloe Shasha

Starting on March 10, Proctor Dining Hall will begin its renovation process. Woodstove Lounge will close to students, but the rest of the dining hall will stay open until the end of the summer.

The news about the upcoming renovations has prompted a flood of anticipatory nostalgic outcry among students barely a week after the decision's announcement. Students have started petititions asking the administration not to close the lounge.

"That space is one of my favorite places to spend long mealtimes and hang out with friends," said Kyle Hunter '11. "It has a relaxed and personal atmosphere that some of the other dining spaces on campus lack."

Some students responded more strongly than Hunter.

"Woodstove Lounge is the only place I ever want to eat," said Mary-Caitlin Hentz '10.5. "All other dining spaces on campus are overwhelming and overly boisterous. I will probably starve to death after March 10. Woodstove Lounge is like a safe haven and it's the only place that is not threatening. I have great memories of eating grapefruits by myself on Sunday mornings at the booths by the window while people-watching."

Will Bellaimey '10.5 does not feel like the plan to convert the Woodstove Lounge into a bookstore storage space is a necessary action for the first phase of Proctor's renovation.

"Considering that they're only planning on using the space to store books, I don't think they should be storing them in the lounge," said Bellaimey. "It seems silly to be using such a central gathering space for storage. It would probably make more sense to lump the small outrage that the closing of the lounge will cause in with the larger outrage that the closing of Proctor is sure to cause. Change makes people nervous. It's better to make people make a big adjustment all at once than to go through the grieving process twice."

Although Proctor could close for a year-long renovation, the building's future remains uncertain.

"The completion of the second phase of Proctor's renovation would give the building enough work to get it another 15 years," Facilities Services Project Manager Mark Gleason said. "But in the long-term plan, that area on campus will see something different."

Other than the textbooks from the book rush area on the bottom floor and the outdoor terrace, the College Bookstore, the Brainerd Commons Office, the Redfield Proctor Dining Room and WRMC 91.1 will not move before the end of the summer.

If the second phase of Proctor's renovation is approved, some of these offices and spaces will be relocated and the new openings will serve different purposes.

"The discussion about where we will move is still going on," said Brainerd Commons Dean Matthew Pacholec. "But a meeting is scheduled to talk about it."

Gleason, however, said that the plans for the Brainerd Commons Office are mostly finalized.

"At the end of the summer, the Brainerd Commons Office will move into Stewart Hall," said Gleason. "We plan on converting several bedrooms on the second floor of Stewart into an office suite for Brainerd Commons. If this happens, the move will be a permanent one, and it will be done by the end of the summer before any of the first-years arrive."

The College Bookstore will not move throughout any phase of the renovation process. According to Gleason, the second phase will include a reconfiguration of the bookstore, and the textbooks in Woodstove Lounge will move to the Redfield Proctor Dining Room. The drawing layout plans for the final College Bookstore space are not complete.

Redfield Proctor, therefore, would not exist during the 2008-2009 academic year. But Woodstove Lounge would undergo renovation with the second phase so that it would reopen as a student dining area when the renovation is complete. The radio station offices for WRMC will not move at any point. The entry points, however, will change.

"People will only be able to get in to WRMC from the bookstore level, in the same way that they will enter the main dining hall," said Gleason. "To get to the radio station, the public will need to climb up two sets of stairs starting on March 10."

Gleason said that with the second phase, a second door would be built into the elevator that currently runs between all floors of Proctor Hall. The elevator would serve as a service and public elevator.