Harrington Hosts Major ReHab

The Harrington Complex (1962), made up of five seperate sleeping spaces and three commons' areas with kitchens, study, and lounging space; were closed during the summer of 2013 so that they could be renovated and reopened in the fall of 2015. Some of the areas that will be addressed by the reno include bathrooms with old piping and shower bases; electrical wiring from the sixties that can't accomodate all the devices students now brought to campus; and new HVAC piping and covers that have deteriorated over the years. in addition their will be new painting, carpeting in the hallways, and new room and public area furniture. One of the features of the new Harrington Complex will be that the former dining hall, that was converted into multi-use space in a previous reno; will now be accessible through the public areas of each individual building and not require a walk outside to get inside.

Flash Flood Floats Thompson

Approximately two weeks prior to fall opening in late August, a summer storm dumped a few inches of rain in Newark in such a short time that it flooded out the basement of the building. As it happens, the carpeting in the hallway floors was replaced during the summer but the two basement lounges were not replaced. It turns out this was good timing so we took the opportunity to replace the wet and damaged lounge carpeting just before the new residents arrived with carpet tiles that were available on short notice from our vendor.  Here is the study side, without the TV, at the East end of the basement.

Redding starts out Grand!

The new Louis Redding Hall in East Campus also has a new grand piano in the main lounge. Instead of moving the grand piano from Russell A/B, where the Honors Program was hosted up until last May; the decision was made to leave that piano for the future residents of Russell A/B and to get another grand piano for the Redding building.

Chalk one up for West Campus!

Late last spring the Housing Carpenter Shop acquired and then installed several chalk boards adjacent to the Rodney underpass for West Campus students to write their thoughts on subjects like "one thing I'd like to do before I die..."  The blackboards have taken the place of an older cork board that dates back to the building of the Rodney dorms in the mid-sixties.

 

 

 



Eli Gilbert and Louis Redding Halls to open in about a month

The first new residence halls to be built on the UD Campus since 2008 will have new furniture arriving to fill the rooms starting on Monday July 22, 2013. The new halls were built especially for freshman with "gang" baths and floor lounges. The rooms will be air conditioned and there will be elevators to travel up the five floors of each building. The Honors Program will be housed in the Louis Redding building. Below shows the Eli Gilbert building.

A Roof Over One's Head at the Towers

While walking into the East Tower entrance from the Commons, most folks probably never even look up and notice the old square light fixture that use to adorn the entranceway since the Towers were opened in the Fall of 1972.  Over Spring Break, a joint project of the Housing Carpenters and Housing Mechanics addressed this old light fixture by taking apart the old ceiling, putting in two new down lights, and then covering up with painted wood planking. The result is a much more pleasing entrance ceiling, if you ever look up!

New upholstery in the new year!

Happy New Year...and new upholstery for George Read, Smith & McKean. You might wonder why buildings that are only 7-8 years old would need new fabric but the given the constant 24/7 use of these lounge areas it was inevitable that this would become necessary. At UD we have our own in-house upholstery shop which allows us to react quickly to any problems that occur but also allows us to stretch the life of our upholstered furniture or liven up an area with old tired designs. The new fabric selected for these buildings features a multi-color design as opposed to the solid colors chosen in the original construction. In the following photo the solid red was replaced with a textured design. In addition to the re-upholstery in George Read North and South, new carpet was installed this summer and the hallways and elevators have been repainted.