In an initiative to improve the freshman dormitories, the College opted to remove all the furniture that was deemed in poor condition in Lois Hall and other freshman dorms.
Andrew Pollom, the College’s residence life director, said, “The third floor [of Blackstone] along with Lois was replaced this past winter break. It, along with Blackstone, had some of the oldest and worst condition [of] furniture.”
This comes off the heels of the latest phase of furniture replacement and renovations that began back in the summer of 2015 on the first floor of Blackstone. “We go through the halls to see what needs to be replaced,” Lori Sundberg, vice president of finance and planning, said. However, “these improvements are secondary to maintenance projects like asphalt replacement and other things,” Sundberg said.
Following shower renovations in Lois over the summer, which cost around $327,000 according to Lake Forest College’s Business Office, these latest renovations to the hall cost the college around $53,000. The new furniture is from New England Woodcraft, a Vermont-based company that specializes in college and military furniture. The company has supplied the College with its furniture ever since the vendor fair when Deerpath Hall was renovated in 1999.
“No money for these improvements were taken out of the student’s tuition. Projects come from a special initiative fund from the president of the College,” Sundberg said, easing any possible fears of additional tuition fees.
“Projects come from the special initiative fund from the President of the College … It remains completely separate from anything regarding additional expenses to student tuitions,” she said. Yet an unrelated $5 expense was charged to each student in the hall after damages to the common lounge involving a fire extinguisher went unsolved last semester, according to campus police reports. Without a determined culprit, this fee was given to every resident in the hall, as it is deemed their collective responsibility to take care of the space.
“One of the many considerations for standardizing on the New England Woodcraft furniture is that the beds are adjustable up to a level that the dressers will fit under the beds,” Pollom said. “Depending on the use and abuse by students, this furniture will last 20 (years), 30 years or longer.” The natural oak desks appear to be sturdy enough to survive the wear and tear, but some Lois residents disagreed.
“I haven’t heard any positive feedback,” Khaleef Rehman ’18, residence assistant of Lois Hall’s third floor, said. Residents preferred the old, bigger drawers. “I’ve heard people saying that they’ve had problems putting them in the closets,” said Rehman.
One of these students is Ariane Balaram ’20, who has her roommate’s dresser wedged awkwardly against their desk at the edge of the room. “I don’t mind these [dressers] except for their size, especially with the dressers. It was hard to fit mine into the closet; in fact, we had to unscrew the top of it,” Balaram said.
“And my roommate’s dresser,” Balaram said, looking at the dresser dejectedly, “is laying outside, because even with unscrewing the top, it wouldn’t get through [into her closet]. I really think they should have measured the dimensions.” They have since had to file a work order to have the dresser dismantled and reassembled in the closet space.
Additional issues stemmed from moving the furniture out. “There is one senior who had her furniture replaced, but everything she had hanging on her walls ended up knocked down on the floor. Pictures [were] ruined, and dust [was] all over the room,” Lesley Tenorio ’20 said. What caused the issue has yet to be discovered.
Facilities Management staff have not yet decided which residence hall will receive improvements for the 2017–2018 school year.
“There are currently no tentative plans for a residence hall renovation, but their upgrades are always a goal,” Pollom said.
Written for Journalism 320
