A housing official said he hopes a few inexpensive upgrades to Banning Hall dormitory will improve the aesthetics of the building and improve the experience of residents.
The walls in Banning have not been changed or worked on since the building was built in 1958. Facilities staff has began work to update the walls in Banning lobby. Other improvement projects in Banning are pending approval by university officials.
“One thing we kept hearing from students just based on aesthetics is that cinder block walls make the rooms look institutional,” said Kevin Culbertson, head resident of Banning Hall. “I wanted to freshen up the lobby and bring it into the 21st century.”
The solution to this problem was to have the walls skim coated with mud. The project is a kind of test ground to see how this solution would work in other areas of the campus and even individual dorm rooms, Culbertson said.
“The process is very inexpensive,” Culbertson said. “The only thing that must be paid for is the mud, which is about $1 per gallon bucket.” “OCU’s own facilities staff is assigned to the project, so that labor is being paid for regardless.”
The walls are being painted a beige color with bright yellow tones to brighten up the room. One wall has been painted blue and will have the OCU logo on it to add some branding.
“I’ve been a big advocate of getting branding in the dorms to show ownership and school pride, said Culbertson. “Currently, there’s nothing in there saying this is OCU. It could be any random building.”
There are more projects for the Banning lobby pending approval, said Culbertson. The housing staff is hoping to put in a small kitchenette in the space that is currently occupied by a table and ice machine. There would be base cabinets, upper cabinets, mini fridge, and sink added to the area. This would be a solution to the problem of the dorm rooms not having any kind of kitchen area.
Others projects being discussed are adding a water bottle filler/drinking fountain, adding wood panels to the center post, redoing the ceiling to sheet rock instead of a drop ceiling, adding energy efficient light fixtures, refinishing and repainting the doors, replacing the carpet with a hard surface floor, and replacing the furniture to make it more consistent.
With the exception of the furniture, these projects would be low cost, since they only require in-house work, said Culbertson. The construction would be done over the summer so students wouldn’t be inconvenienced.
Projects like these, with the exception of painting and work done on the walls, must first be approved by the director of facilities and the Chief Financial Officer. Depending on the price and extent of the project, sometimes President Henry must be involved as well.
The changes in Banning will most likely not require that level of involvement, Culbertson said.
If this test with Banning proves successful, then the other residence lobbies will eventually be brought to this standard.
“It’s a stepping ground to show the university what we can do with these dorms,” Culbertson said. “The dorms are old, but they still have potential.”
These changes have gotten mixed opinions from students. One student showed concern for her health and safety.
“I’m not a big fan of workers being in and out of the lobby,” said Celia Tedde, music theater freshman. “It always smells like paint and that’s not good for your health.”
Another student expressed that it was an adjustment.
“It’s weird to see the place where you do the majority of your socializing and pastimes going through so many changes, “said Chandler White, English freshman. “You can tell the changes are improving the conditions and making the environment better.”
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