After several months of construction, renovations in the first floor of SXU’s Warde Academic Center have finally concluded. The newly refurbished space is designed to promote using technology for leaning purposes as well as to give SXU students more areas to study and relax.
Construction in the area below the library began in late February of 2013 and was completed before the start of the fall semester on August 23rd.
Before the renovations were initiated, the space housed the SXU Gallery and several rooms which became underutilized after the art department relocated to the Visual Arts Center. With the area vacated, the university began to plan of ways in which the space could be remodeled.
Media Services relocated to the remodeled area.[/caption]According to Peter Skach, Director of Facilities Services at Saint Xavier University, the project was funded through a grant received from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) through the Independent Colleges Capital Program (ICCAP).
This same grant was used by the university in 2011 to help fund the renovations made in the Robert and Mary Rita Murphy Stump Library. The total cost in remodeling the first floor area was around $2.6 million.
The newly revamped area now includes a recording studio, a large smart classroom, two editing rooms, three quiet study rooms, a renovated elevator, a few staff offices, a conference room, the Instructional Design Center, the Student Media Center, two new bathroom facilities, and a gallery lounge area.
Besides having new rooms and services in the space, a few already well-known SXU facilities and services are also housed in the renovated area. The SXU Gallery is now located immediately upon entering the first floor through the main entrance near the library.
Coffee Cats – the popular SXU beverage and snack venue that was next to the library – has now been relocated downstairs; Skach believes that the relocation was a good decision to make, especially since Coffee Cats customers would sometimes unintentionally block the library entrance due to a long line. Equipment that was used at the old Coffee Cats has now been removed.
Originally on the third floor of the Warde Academic Center, Media Services was also relocated to the first floor and is now situated next to the new Coffee Cats. Its new location has made its presence at the university more visible to students.
Skach believes that the renovated area will not only benefit SXU students and professors in academic purposes, but also for recreational ones.
“It will provide new and dynamic comfortable spaces filled with new technology to experience. The new gallery will showcase artwork and there will be another great place for students, staff and faculty to gather in,” Skach said.
SXU students’ reaction to the remodeled space has been mostly positive.
Nardy Gallegos, a junior majoring in nursing, is fond of the changes made to the once-empty space.
“I think that the new area is a great place to grab some coffee and get together with your friends, especially since some of the more common areas where students hang out are the library, diner or student lounge; with this new renovation, it seems like it’s a combination of all those spaces! The new study rooms in the library are good to head over there and have a silent study. Overall, it is nice to see that the school is making some modern changes that benefit the students,” said Gallegos.
Katie Arvia, a junior majoring in English, also appreciates the new area, but had a minor issue with the Coffee Cats space. “The new space is really nice and I like sitting in there. I like that the school put in more study rooms and a nicer place for Coffee Cats. However, I feel the area with Coffee Cats is a little too small,” Arvia said.
Junior Kim Percudani – a student majoring in criminal justice – believes that the renovations are not only great for students, but also for Saint Xavier University as a whole. “I think the area will benefit students because there are more places for students to go other than the café or upstairs library. I also think it is beneficial because of all the new equipment that was put in the renovation – it’ll help get our name out there,” said Percudani
The remodeled area has been seen as being extremely beneficial for SXU students, faculty, staff, and the university in general. Skach remarked on the great impact that this change has on SXU. “It’s taking a space that was really nothing and making it into a real shining star.”
Macy Zamudio
Senior News Editor