Lane Hall’s top floor renovated into offices

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Lane Hall’s top floor renovated into offices
Nolan Ryan36 minutes ago The renovations to the top floor of Lane Hall will serve as faculty offices for assistant and adjunct professors. Isabella Redjai | Collegian

Stumbling into the top floor of Lane Hall last spring semester, one might find antique furniture, stacks of vintage composites, or photographs of Central Hall. Now the space has been replaced by new offices for assistant and adjunct professors.

As assistant and adjunct professors have shared offices and exhausted the space in Delp Hall and across campus, the administration found the space available in the attic of Lane could be repurposed.

“This spring the provost’s office notified me of the need of more full-time faculty offices for the fall semester,” said Chief Administrative Officer Richard Péwé. “The work started in June and concluded a few weeks ago after the fire marshal approval.”

Foulke Construction is running the new renovations and has replicated the layout of Kendall Hall’s fourth floor offices, but with a twist.

“Rather than create two more seminar classrooms, which according to room-use data were not needed, the college created two sizable spaces for adjunct faculty,” Péwé said. “Lane will have room for 10 full-time offices and about 12 to 15 spaces for adjuncts.”

Additionally, one private office is available for testing and private meetings with students.

The increased number of spaces for adjuncts will not result in an expanded faculty, though, according to Péwé.

As professors move their belongings to the new space, they appear to be optimistic for the change. Final constructions are underway, and instructors have yet to officially move into their new offices.

“I know that we are running out of room in Delp for office space, so this change was necessary,” Assistant Professor of English Andrew Brown said. “As long as I can conduct my office hours and meet with students, I have no problem with the change. I will do everything I can to make it work.”

The furniture for the new offices was scheduled to arrive on Friday, Aug. 24, bringing the project closer to completion.

As this new furniture comes in and the archives go out, Hillsdale’s antiquated art and furniture have found new homes.

“Some materials — museum-like objects, paintings, chairs, and other things — that we physically want to keep but don’t need to keep out are in a climate-controlled area in Jackson,” Mossey Library Public Service Librarian Linda Moore said.

Certain archival items from various time periods of the college’s existence, such as extra Winona yearbooks, original college catalogues, and photographs, were moved to the Fowler Maintenance building for the library’s easy access.

Other items, which could be used for the library’s archive collections and exhibits — for example, the poet Will Carleton’s exhibit, currently in progress — were moved to the library for the project’s purposes.

“Although some of the items from Lane’s attic still need to be added to the database, the thing is, the most important documents and photographs are digitally available to students on our online archives,” Moore said.

To visit Mossey Library’s online archives visit www.lib.hillsdale.edu/archives.