After missing its deadline for completion last November, the new Welcome Center has officially opened on the second floor of Academic Hall.
The center, which Physical Plant head Chris Hill said was moved to be closer to admissions and enrollment offices, features a lounge, counseling spaces and a 100-seat Welcome Theater in the former JVH auditorium space.
Despite the delay, Hill said in an emailed statement that the center was completed “in a timely manner given the scope of the project.”
The former JVH was outfitted with new lighting, sound equipment and seating. It was also repainted to fit the black, white and green theme of the new area.
The hallway between Academic Hall’s elevators and computer lab was repainted and its carpeting replaced. It was also outfitted with three new sets of tables and chairs.
A stenciled map of Pittsburgh, similar to that of the Honors Lounge, was added around an existing wall-mounted television. And student resources, namely a microwave used by Thayer Hall residents, were moved closer to the printers in the computer lab.
Both the former CENT office and former Center for Civic and Community Engagement, which were moved into the “Green” building at the end of last semester, were outfitted as new office and counseling spaces.
Sections of Academic Hall outside of the Welcome Center were changed, too, with a large decal of Black Diamond II added to the exterior wall of the center. Above Black Diamond is text which reads “Come quickly, far too much to see.”
Another decal of Black Diamond advertising the Welcome Center was added under the railing of the second floor of Academic Hall facing away from its entrance.
Decals of presumably bison hoof prints were also added on the floor, which lead up the stairs of Academic Hall and into the new Welcome Center.
The elevators on the second floor of Academic Hall were repainted, as well.
The former Welcome Center in Conestoga Hall is now devoid of activity, and no official plan has been released on what will be done with the space. For now, students living in Conestoga’s residence hall are permitted to use it as a lounge.
Beyond the Welcome Center, a second, maybe lesser renovation hit campus. The interior entrance door of Boulevard Apartments, which for most of last semester would not close properly, was replaced.
The new doors do not yet lock, but Hill said they will be outfitted with mag-locks sometime this week and added that automatic closers are “already hooked up.”
