Jones College to add rooms to south building, remove kitchens on floors

By Natalie Koonce 3/18/14 4:57pm

By August 1, 2014, Jones College will have undergone several renovations and will have a new set of rooms on the first floor of the south building, according to Project Manager for Facilities Engineering and Planning Anzilla Gilmore.

Gilmore, a Jones Associate, said planned changes for this summer include not only the new rooms, but also improvements to the communal bathrooms and relocation of some features of Jones South.

“On the first floor we are adding ten new beds in seven student rooms and will relocate the study area and off-campus student lounge down to the east end of first floor of Jones South,” Gilmore said. “In addition, there will be major updates to all community bathrooms in South.”

This summer, all kitchens on individual floors will be removed and replaced by one centrally-located kitchen per college, according to Senior Housing and Dining Operations Manager David Brown. Brown said the purpose behind this change is to decrease the number of false fire alarms that go off throughout the year.

“We’re removing the kitchenettes to contain the fire alarm problem, as they have been going off across campus quite frequently,” Brown said. “Putting one kitchen in a central location will help get rid of that problem. Removing the kitchens from floors will also make room for a new study space.”

Aside from performing some campus-wide renovations and updates, FE&P and H&D usually rotate between colleges each summer in carrying out more extensive projects, according to FE&P Manager of Communications Susann Glenn.

“One thing we typically do every summer is choose one college where we work on larger projects and implement an aggressive schedule for updates and renovations,” said Glenn. “This summer our focus is on Jones.”

Jones College masters Michel and Melanie Achard said they have been pleased with the initiative of H&D and FE&P staff in soliciting input from students since the beginning stages of the project.

“Michel and I have really loved seeing the student participation in this project,” Melanie Achard said. “Students have been involved in the process from the early planning stages right up until they’ve actually started renovations. H&D takes feedback from the students and adjusts theirs plans accordingly, which is one thing I really respect about the way they go about making renovations.”

Melanie Achard said the goal behind adding rooms to the first floor of Jones South is to lessen the number of Jones students who must move off campus due to insufficient on-campus space.

“We wanted to offer the opportunity for more of our students to live in their college,” Melanie Achard said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we would have to kick off all juniors and potentially even some sophomores. The more Jonesians living on campus, the cooler Jones is.”

Nevertheless, some students are hesitant about the negative effects of creating a completely new residential floor on the college’s culture.

Jones freshman Kira Wegner-Clemens said she is worried about the impact of the new rooms on the close bonds shared by members of the same floor at Jones.

“I think having rooms on first South is going to make floor culture really weird,” Wegner-Clemens said. “The people who live there are not going to be part of Jones in quite the same way as everyone else.”

Jones junior Caitlin Laird said she agreed with Wegner-Clemens’ concern regarding the change in floor culture.

“While I appreciate that more students will get to live on campus, I am worried about the drawbacks of tacking on a whole new floor with a smaller number of people than any other floor on Jones culture,” Laird said.

Melanie Achard said she knows some of the students are worried about the upcoming changes but thinks that after the project is finished, Jones residents will appreciate the work that has been done to improve the college.

“The real challenge is that people just don’t like change, but what I’ve found is that after it happens people usually really like what comes out of it,” Melanie Achard said. “At the end of the construction, Jones is going to have facilities that are nicer and more up to date.”

Jones freshman William Fernandez said he agreed with Achard that the updates to Jones will be good for the college.

“I don’t like that we’re losing the kitchens, but I think the renovations are definitely necessary,” Fernandez said. “Some things have to change for Jones to improve, and some people may not like the changes now, but in the long run I think it will be worth it.”