Surprised students return to newly renovated rooms in Dod Hall

Of the many surprises awaiting Sean Macisaac '02 on campus this year, the renovation of his new room in Dod Hall was by far the most unexpected.

"I had seen my new room after room draw in the spring, and I had known that it was all right, but when I moved in I was both extremely surprised and impressed," Macisaac said.

His suite — 102S Dod — was one of four rooms on the south end of the dorm refurbished to serve as models for a building-wide renovation scheduled for next academic year. Rooms 101S, 115 and 114 were also remodeled, each in a different way.

In addition to the renovation in Dod, new stained-glass windows were installed in selected rooms in Lockhart Hall. Both Dod and Lockhart are slated to be closed for renovations during the 2001-2002 academic year, according to Director of Physical Planning Jon Hlafter '61.

The partial renovations are part of a larger program to remodel the majority of the University's dorms during the next several years, according to Hlafter.

He said performing different types of renovations in the same dorm makes it possible for architects to experiment with several room styles, while giving builders knowledge of unforeseen problems that sometime arise during remodeling.

It also allows the office of physical planning to solicit students' opinions on the renovations before starting construction building-wide, Hlafter said.

He added that such a mechanism for collecting student feedback has not yet been created, but "definitely will be [available] in the coming months."

The most significant changes in Dod affected the rooms' floors, closet space, lighting, paint and trim.

Though Hlafter describes the building's renovations as "mostly cosmetic in nature," Dod resident Jonathan Wong '02 said that even the small changes make a difference.

He describes his room as "a much better learning environment" because of its new indirect lighting.

Macisaac, Wong's roommate, said the refinished floors are an especially welcome addition to the room. "It's really nice. Now I don't have to worry about getting splinters in my feet like I did in Holder last year," he said.