Spring Break
Rings back at Alumni Center
Construction continues as employees return to Alumni Center offices
By: Calli Turner
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: News
| |
|
During the holiday break, when students were packing up suitcases and making the trek back home, the 65 employees of the Association of Former Students did some moving of their own.
Workers at the Association packed up offices at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center in February and moved to temporary locations. By March, contractors were renovating the center and by December, the Association employees made the trip back home.
The renovation has been divided into three phases: first, improving efficiency and flexibility of workspace; second, The Haynes Ring Plaza; and third, the addition of exhibits. The center is back up and operational - with limited access to the public - since January, Kathryn Greenwade, Class of 1988 and the Association's vice president of communication and human resources, said. During the office renovation, the staff set up temporary offices on campus and off, including an office at U.S. Highway 6 and Emerald Parkway.
"We are thrilled to be back on campus, back where everything is happening," said Greenwade.
Association employee Trouper Krueger, a homeland security graduate student, said the office renovation included a lot of improvements that needed to happen and that the process was worthwhile.
"If you want to move into a nice building, you have to make allowances," he said.
The Alumni Center was built in 1987, and Greenwade said the renovation was necessary to keep up to date.
"[In 1987] there was one person on our staff who had a computer," she said.
Now the offices are equipped with upgraded technology, as part of the renovation, as well as a more open and lighted environment.
The meeting rooms that were added to the center are the work of benevolent former students. Each room is named in honor of a donor, but some are yet to be claimed. Additions to the meeting rooms include drop-down projectors, front and side screens, and wireless microphones.
The meeting rooms are available for rental for University affiliated groups.
"We want this to be a place where both students and former students feel welcome," Greenwade said.
The office space is complete, the employees are settled back in and few boxes are left to be unpacked, but work is still to be done.
The Ring Plaza, an enormous, outdoor bronze replica of the Aggie Ring, will be complete in fall 2009 and was donated by the renovation's lead donors Harold J. Haynes, Class of 1946, and Reta K. Haynes.
"[Harold] is a great Aggie and we're proud to have their name associated with our building," Greenwade said.
The exhibits, both historical and interactive, will be complete by the end of October 2009, and the large atrium will be finished spring 2009.
Another addition to the Association is a panel video wall comprised of 49 42-inch plasma screens.
"We believe it's the largest indoor video wall in the Brazos Valley," Greenwade said.
The panel can be used for 32 individual or one single image. Greenwade said the panel could be used to show football games in the fall while fans wait for the Aggies to play, a student organization slideshow or a commencement feed.
Walls and floors remain bare and displays are missing, but the Aggie Spirit still abounds as close to 3,000 Aggies piled into the sectioned-off halls to order Aggie Rings.
Sahiba Singh, a senior chemical engineering major, said Wednesday was her first visit to the center when she ordered her Aggie Ring.
"It looks pretty cool," she said. "The ground was a little shaky. But I'm just patient and excited for my ring."
Students receiving rings in April will be the first to slip the piece of gold on their finger inside the newly renovated center. In the meantime, the Association has been handing out those little pieces of history in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
"G. Rollie was kind of fun," Greenwade said. "There was history with that."
From Oct. 21 to Oct. 31, the Association will have a grand rededication. The ceremony will thank donors and celebrate the premiere alumni center in the country. All the funds for the renovations have come from private donations and it is separate from the money provide to the University said Greenwade.
"Our funding to the University remains constant throughout," she said.
Although the constructions workers are still busy by day - and sometimes night - Greenwade said she encourages visitors to stop by.
"While construction is ongoing, we're happy to show it to you," she said.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com