As the construction of the Learning Commons come to a close, a ceremony was held in the finished library to honor those involved in its renovation. With new carpets, seating areas, conference rooms and more, both Lavaca Hall and the recently renovated Academic Testing Center in Medina Hall are ready to welcome new and returning students.
Madigan Mirza, assistant director of the Learning Commons, helped oversee staff members and coordinated with the construction team during the renovation.
“They decided to do all of the construction over the summer, so that it would lessen the impact on students. We had all of our staff relocated to other spaces around campus, and it was tough. We had half of our staff in Red River and half of our staff over in Medina,” she said.
With experience working through construction, Mirza expected delays to be announced for the project as it continued. However, she was surprised by the speed of the construction. She said, “Roberto was just very well organized, and he had it very much in mind. Like, it has to be done so that we’re ready to open on the first day of fall semester. We cannot let the students down. And he did everything in his power to make everything, you know, stay on task and on time on target.”
Roberto Alvarado, the construction manager overseeing the, worked towards the final product through the summer. “It was fun. I think seeing what the vision was without having the greatest of plans but knowing what the vision was going to turn out to be, it was really inspiring and motivating,” he said.
Renovation quickly moved ahead of schedule. Alvarado said, “It was two weeks ahead of schedule and that, in the grand scheme of what all had to go into the project and how much time the learning commons staff needed to have in the space before students returned, it was very important and helpful to them.”
While that was being worked on through the summer, another section of Learning Commons would be scheduled for construction. “On the second floor where we have academic testing, we shut that down and it was relocated temporarily over the winter. And they came in and same process, new carpet, new furniture, new paint, and just made it, you know, more spacious, more comfortable,” she said. The construction in Medina was completed before the spring semester.
Dr. Kay Eggleston, Richland Campus president, sees the new Learning Commons resources as great improvements over previous offerings. “The renovation fulfills a vision to better serve students for today and for the future. So students will have a high-quality place to come to on campus to study, to receive tutoring, to collaborate with each other on projects, to print their work for classes, to check out books in the stacks or to do research. All of that is fulfilled in this new design,” she said.
Mirza sees the completed Learning Commons as an improvement, with the new layout and resources giving students more tools to succeed. “People are meeting with tutors. People are collaborating in groups and studying together. And then on the lower level, we still have our library. We still have all of the books and the stacks. But there’s quiet study areas there. So if you really want to lock in and get some quiet studying done, that’s the zone,” she said.
Alvarado was also satisfied with the final product of the renovation. “It’s just a collaboration, learning environment for anybody to come in and share, think, and learn. And that’s really what our whole mission is. So, yeah, of course, extremely excited and happy and love the way it turned out,” he said.
