By Tristan Weisenbach
Editor-in-Chief
The College will have a busy summer upgrading many residence halls on campus in preparation for students to return for the fall semester.
About $2 million from the College’s asset renewal fund has been allocated to finance the improvements over the next two years, but many of the upgrades will occur this summer, according to Sharon Blanton, vice president of operations.
New tubs will be installed in New Residence Hall and Eickhoff Hall, upgrading older tubs that Blanton said are in need of replacement. Additionally, in Eickhoff, the main stairwell will be painted, all desks and chairs will be replaced and new water heaters will be installed to improve the hot water system for both bathing and cooking purposes.
Ely, Allen and Brewster Halls will also be fully repainted over the summer.
The College’s Board of Trustees also recently approved a $14 million investment program with PSE&G, called Engineered Solutions, that aims to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint. Blanton said some upgrades related to this project, such as replacing light systems in the hallways of some residential buildings, could begin as soon as this summer.
“It’s much cleaner lighting. It uses only just a fraction of the electricity,” Blanton said. “So it’s possible that we’ll be seeing some of the LED lighting project installed this summer.”
Electrical systems in Cromwell and Decker Halls will also be bolstered this summer to prepare for the installation of air conditioning next summer. The air conditioning units are set to be completely installed and ready for use by August 2026.
“When you go to a hotel, at times they’ll have that system in the wall where you can adjust it to make it hot or cold. That’s like the systems that we’ll be installing,” Blanton said. “The students will have the ability to adjust the temperature.”
The 40 chairs in the main lounge of Travers and Wolfe Halls will also be reupholstered this summer too, according to Ray Gonzalez, the Residential Education and Housing business manager.
President Michael Bernstein also clarified in an interview that the College is very close to finishing its fire alarm system upgrade project. He noted that this modernization will help reduce the number of disruptions that many residence halls have experienced in recent semesters. The system will sync alarms for all buildings across campus, and will be centralized in the Campus Police building.
“The quality of our residence halls affects our ability to recruit and retain students,” said Bernstein. “We want to make sure that they're in the best shape possible.”
