For the first time in its 50 years of existence, Wallace Residence Center is receiving a cosmetic face-lift.
Philip Vukelich | Argonaut Twin sisters Taylor and Brooke Jenkins, and Mychael Carranza, freshmen, set up the board game LIFE in their newly renovated lounge on the first floor of Ballard wing in the Wallace Residence Center. The renovated floor opened March 9, allowing students to make the move during spring break.
Renovation began last spring when the first floor of the Stephenson wing was remodeled to accommodate Delta Zeta sorority. At the beginning of this month, University Housing announced the completion of Ballard’s first floor.
“We put all new carpeting in and paint on the interior,” said Kelsi Nagle, recruitment coordinator of University Housing. “We also replaced the vanity, furniture, drapes and the locks on the doors. Instead of the hard keys, access to the dorms will all be through Vandal cards.”
The process to restore all 20 floors will take six years to complete.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Ray Gasser, University Housing director. “We planned this restoration about a year and a half ago.”
Wallace will not be completed all at once.
“We have to renovate floor by floor,” Nagle said. “We notified all students that were living on the first floor of Ballard about the remodel. They moved to the second floor for the semester and are now moving into their new rooms on the first.”
University Housing does not plan to raise room and board fees.
“We don’t have the money at the
moment to completely re-do Wallace at once,” Gasser said. “It’s a win-win. This way, we don’t have to completely shut down Wallace and do not have to spend a chunk of money at once. Wallace touches more students’ lives than any other living residence. It deserves to be taken care of.”
Resident Assistant sophomore Cindy Repp of the first floor of Ballard said she’s pleased with the changes implemented.
“My residents really enjoy the new countertops, carpets and doors that are up to fire code. These changes were definitely needed and are appreciated,” Repp said. “I cannot imagine anyone who would not like to live in these new halls.”
Residents of Repp’s hall began the year on the second floor of Ballard knowing they would be the first residents in the newly remodeled first floor.
“University Housing really coordinated with us. They kept us up-to-date as much as possible and gave us plenty of time to move to the first floor,” Repp said.
The second floor will begin renovation as soon as all of the residents are moved out.
“We plan to have two restored halls by fall 2012,” Nagle said. “The price will remain the same regardless if students choose to live on the two newly completed floors or the older floors.”
University Housing receives no money from the state and is financially independent from the university. The renovation is funded by the accumulation of student housing fees.
“We want the students to see that we are invested in their future and care about their living spaces,” Nagle said.
Amy Asanuma can be reached at [email protected]