The Turck formal lounge has been reopened for student use, and final renovations are expected to be completed over the next few weeks.

After a few years of serving as overflow space and temporary studios while other campus buildings were under construction, the lounge has been permanently converted into a student gathering space.

The lounge had been closed since last winter, as facilities began removing old equipment and materials from it. Now that it is open again, the lounge has been filled with furniture and new resources designed to draw students into the space and transform it into a campus-wide gathering area.

New chairs, couches and end tables are now in the lounge, as well as a large boardroom table with chairs formerly used by the Board of Trustees. During the renovations, facilities installed a fireplace, mood lighting and cabinet space.

According to Dean of Students Jim Hoppe, the goal with the renovations was to design a lounge which mirrored the feel of the lounge in the Center for Religiousnand Spiritual Life.

“We wanted to create a space that had that same kind of feel–a lounge where folks could hang out in, but also a place where you could have a meal or a program,” Hoppe said.

Although renovations are mostly finished, more furniture and multimedia equipment will be arriving over the next few weeks, including a large television that will hang above the fireplace.

Students and organizations will be able to reserve the lounge through Residential Life for special events, and the lounge is directly accessible through an exterior door to which students can request card access. Through that, Hoppe hopes that the lounge will become “not a place for [just] Doty-Turck residents, but for the entire campus to use.”

According to Hoppe, the lounge renovations cost approximately $30,000. That money was funded with TEM (Technology, Equipment and Maintenance) funds, a section of the college’s budget which mostly funds one-time capital expenses. Some other lounges on campus might see additional improvements and furniture replacements now that the Turck renovations are completed, Hoppe added.

Before the Leonard Center was built, the lounge functioned as a student workout area, filled with treadmills and other exercise equipment. Following the Leonard Center’s opening, the space went through a period of temporary conversions, being used as overflow spaces for music and studio art classes while their respective buildings were being renovated. Last spring, the room was a temporary painting studio.

For brief periods in between the room’s use as an overflow space, it had been used as a lounge, but no major renovations were made to upgrade its condition.

“In the interims, it’s been used as a lounge, but we didn’t want to invest a lot of money in it knowing it would be used for another purpose for big chunks of time,” Hoppe said.

A few years ago, Hoppe and other staff overseeing the project began obtaining student input on what they wanted the lounge to look like after renovations were completed. They convened focus groups of Turck residents and discussed the issue with MCSG. After the lounge began its time as an overflow space, those discussions were put on hold, but were revived again last fall when it became clear the lounge would be permanently renovated.

Doty/Turck RHD Amanda-Rae Barboza said that groups had already been using it for preseason events, and initial reaction to the space had been fairly positive.

In addition, Barboza expressed hope that it would encourage more community-building throughout the entire residence hall.

“We have lots of lounges, but to have something this size is a great benefit. It’s another way to interact with students and with each other. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes to fruition with that space,” Barboza said.