<roposed Evans reconstruction is tentatively on track for beginning the during the summer of 2012. Currently, Residential Life is working on developing a workable project plan to submit to the Board of Trustees for approval. If passed, the reconstruction will focus on several points of improvement.
“We’re approaching the Evans renovation with the hopes of addressing the need to get sprinklers put into the building, to improve accessibility to the building to all students, to improve community, and add some of the amenities that our other residence halls have, like floor lounges and kitchens,” said Steve Wisener, the Direction of Residential Life. “We’ll be moving away from the column structure and converting them to floors [in hopes that it] will help with building circulation and address the lack of community we currently face in Evans.”
As of now, floor plans have been drawn up and are under review by the Board. The main goal of the project is to maintain the integrity of Evans but still do enough redesigning to change the interior. “We want to keep the positive history and traditions of Evans and address the negative aspects of the building that have cropped up in recent years,” explained Wisener. More residential rooms and bathrooms will be added, along with creating lounges for each new floor. There will be four floors, if the column structures are voted to be demolished. “We want to keep the positive history and traditions of Evans and address the negative aspects of the building that have cropped up in recent years,” added Wisener.
The process is still under review but if it gets final approval, construction will be set for summer 2012 with hopes of finishing by the end of fall 2012 to be ready for students to move in at the start of winter term 2013. Wisener explained that, “We just need to continue to work in the direction of coming up with a final design that we’re happy with to present to the board in October.
“We still want Evans to retain its unique character that so many of our students enjoy while restoring it back to a place where students want to live,” he added. “It’s a beautiful building in a great location and we want to maximize the positives of the space.”