Students can expect to see the completion of the construction outside of Lycoming Hall by the beginning of the fall 2019 semester.
Phase 1’s $400,000 project included widening and increasing the space between steps leading to the Scranton Commons and installing an underground heating component to keep stairs from icing over in winter months. The stairs by Lycoming sustain heavy foot traffic from students on the way to the quad. Students from past years voiced complaints over the impracticality of the staircase’s narrow design and expressed anger over unsafe weather conditions when the stairs became exceptionally slippery.
Phase 2, which is slated to start May 13 and be finished August 13, will see all dorms in Lycoming switch to central air conditioning and heat. Students will no longer be able to see air conditioning units in the windows of dorms facing 2nd Street but will be sure to notice Lycoming donning a new roof for the new semester.
Phase 2 of Lycoming’s construction will feature the opening of a student-run coffee shop, Saxbys. Coffee connoisseurs and health enthusiasts alike will be glad to know that Saxbys menu houses a large variety of frozen and hot java options and plenty of smoothies.
These improvements are thanks to Residence Life, who set out to provide the “best comfort level” for students. Emil Mikle, Assistant Director of Facilities for Planning and Construction says that Bloomsburg University sees students as the “driving force” for all changes on campus because everything is for “student enhancement.” The ultimate goal is to eventually have all dorms make the switch to central air.
Students who wish to follow campus construction that is currently happening or is scheduled to begin will soon be able to view a completed and updated map on Bloomsburg’s Planning and Construction page online at https://intranet.bloomu.edu/planning-construction.
