By Victor Rios
Op/Ed Editor
There are good reasons why Beacon Hall is not yet completed; meanwhile, take a look around; there are plenty of features in the building that you can enjoy.
The hustle and bustle of ongoing construction, students and cars all added to the experience that was the first day of school at Beacon Hall: the state of the art building that has yet to be completed, but is sure to leave students and staff flabbergasted.
So far, the feedback from most students has been stupendous. Beacon Hall has opened them up to talking about their school in a positive light.
“It feels more like a real college,” said Kris Brewer, a transfer student.
It is not just the students who are thrilled. The staff happens to love the new building, especially since each department got their preferred accommodations fulfilled in the new building. “I just love it…especially the event room, where I’ll be doing most of my work,” said Linda Bayusik.
But Conrad, a continuing student, disagrees. “Going up those stairs is a workout, especially when you just wake up. That’s the worst! You look up those stairs and don’t see an end to them.”
The reason for the high ceiling in the public areas and the length of the stairs (17 ft) is simple: Beacon Hall was build off of the core of the old Sears building. “We had limitations as far as the budget, so we looked at ways to reduce the cost and still get a great building,” said Richard Hennessy, Facilities Coordinator.
“If we were to take out the mainframe of the old building we are looking at an added cost. Not only are you taking the concrete and other materials out, you also have to bring in public utilities companies. It would have been too complicated, added a year of work and would have been too costly,” remarked Mr. Hennessy.
Another modest complaint heard throughout HCC is the fact that construction has yet to be completed. “I thought the building was supposed to be completed by the start of the semester,“ said a teacher who chose to remain anonymous.
But that particular problem will not persist. Construction is slated to be finished October 15th according to Dean of Administration Paul McNamara, the person in charge of seeing the project completed with as little complications as possible.
“The reason why we still have construction going on is because no construction project is ever completed on time,” said McNamara. “We knew it wasn’t going to be finished on time, so we went ahead and told the architect to dedicate his (time) on finishing instructional spaces along with the security systems first. And we did receive a certificate of occupancy the Thursday prior to the start of the semesters. That’s why students were able to attend classes in the new building. It sure would be nice to have a fitness center and all the other additions, but we have never had them before, so we could wait a little for the new spaces,” added McNamara.
There were four main goals McNamara set out to accomplish when he was charged with seeing Beacon Hall through.
- Make classrooms sound for learning.
- Create student spaces.
- Create spaces for the display of Housatonic’s extensive artwork collection.
- Security.
“One of the major complaints from the Lafayette Building was that there were no adequate student spaces…now students have a whole floor dedicated to them,” said McNamara.
Accordingly, students do tend to gravitate toward the third floor. A large student lounge is open now. A game room that will be filled with chessboards, video games like Pac-Man, and an air hockey table will be available soon said Robert, a student who works in the student activities center. Also included at Beacon Hall is a meditation room open for anyone looking for a quiet space to perform prayers or silent meditation - but not to hang out and talk!
Media reach (computers, TV, DVD, Projectors) in every classroom was a must; it helps in providing faculty the tools they need to make for a better learning atmosphere. Larger classrooms accommodate a larger number of students, and the new chairs are more comfortable than those old metal chairs that the Lafayette building still has.
When it came to creating spaces for displaying HCC’s art collection, there was a compromise between the architect’s desire to have a collage of different colors throughout the building, and the administration’s desire to showcase HCC’s art collection (which happens to be the largest collection of art held by any two-year institution in the whole country). Every wall in Beacon Hall’s public spaces has 5” x 8” plywood to help support the art (hint: the white walls will be adorned with art).
The security systems in place in Beacon Hall were wholly a creation of McNamara. In fact, the security system is not unlike the systems in place at Lafayette Hall. As soon as you walk into Beacon Hall the first thing you’ll notice is a room with security guards closely monitoring the halls.
“I did this intentionally. When students walk into the building, they know that there are people watching, not for fun, but in order to maintain our status as one of the safest college institutions in the Fairfield county,” he said.
In 1996, when Lafayette Hall (which was also completed by McNamara) opened, there were 2,800 students, of which only 300 were full-time students. Now there are 5,017-plus full-time students in a new state of the art building. It took six years for this project to finally be on the last phase of completion. A few years of planning and filling out paperwork, a year of construction and we can now see the fruits of the efforts put forth by everyone involved in this project.
A lot of meticulous planning was put into this building, and it was done with you, the student, in mind. McNamara gave these words of advice for all students and staff:
“It’s a brand new building. Enjoy it and have fun, but be respectful of everything within it…I will be the one to get a heart attack when I see a student’s name engraved on a table.”
All in all, Beacon hall is a great new addition to HCC and an even greater addition to the flourishing city of Bridgeport, even if it’s not finished yet.
There are good reasons why Beacon Hall is not yet completed; meanwhile, take a look around; there are plenty of features in the building that you can enjoy.
The hustle and bustle of ongoing construction, students and cars all added to the experience that was the first day of school at Beacon Hall: the state of the art building that has yet to be completed, but is sure to leave students and staff flabbergasted.
So far, the feedback from most students has been stupendous. Beacon Hall has opened them up to talking about their school in a positive light.
“It feels more like a real college,” said Kris Brewer, a transfer student.
It is not just the students who are thrilled. The staff happens to love the new building, especially since each department got their preferred accommodations fulfilled in the new building. “I just love it…especially the event room, where I’ll be doing most of my work,” said Linda Bayusik.
But Conrad, a continuing student, disagrees. “Going up those stairs is a workout, especially when you just wake up. That’s the worst! You look up those stairs and don’t see an end to them.”
The reason for the high ceiling in the public areas and the length of the stairs (17 ft) is simple: Beacon Hall was build off of the core of the old Sears building. “We had limitations as far as the budget, so we looked at ways to reduce the cost and still get a great building,” said Richard Hennessy, Facilities Coordinator.
“If we were to take out the mainframe of the old building we are looking at an added cost. Not only are you taking the concrete and other materials out, you also have to bring in public utilities companies. It would have been too complicated, added a year of work and would have been too costly,” remarked Mr. Hennessy.
Another modest complaint heard throughout HCC is the fact that construction has yet to be completed. “I thought the building was supposed to be completed by the start of the semester,“ said a teacher who chose to remain anonymous.
But that particular problem will not persist. Construction is slated to be finished October 15th according to Dean of Administration Paul McNamara, the person in charge of seeing the project completed with as little complications as possible.
“The reason why we still have construction going on is because no construction project is ever completed on time,” said McNamara. “We knew it wasn’t going to be finished on time, so we went ahead and told the architect to dedicate his (time) on finishing instructional spaces along with the security systems first. And we did receive a certificate of occupancy the Thursday prior to the start of the semesters. That’s why students were able to attend classes in the new building. It sure would be nice to have a fitness center and all the other additions, but we have never had them before, so we could wait a little for the new spaces,” added McNamara.
There were four main goals McNamara set out to accomplish when he was charged with seeing Beacon Hall through.
- Make classrooms sound for learning.
- Create student spaces.
- Create spaces for the display of Housatonic’s extensive artwork collection.
- Security.
“One of the major complaints from the Lafayette Building was that there were no adequate student spaces…now students have a whole floor dedicated to them,” said McNamara.
Accordingly, students do tend to gravitate toward the third floor. A large student lounge is open now. A game room that will be filled with chessboards, video games like Pac-Man, and an air hockey table will be available soon said Robert, a student who works in the student activities center. Also included at Beacon Hall is a meditation room open for anyone looking for a quiet space to perform prayers or silent meditation - but not to hang out and talk!
Media reach (computers, TV, DVD, Projectors) in every classroom was a must; it helps in providing faculty the tools they need to make for a better learning atmosphere. Larger classrooms accommodate a larger number of students, and the new chairs are more comfortable than those old metal chairs that the Lafayette building still has.
When it came to creating spaces for displaying HCC’s art collection, there was a compromise between the architect’s desire to have a collage of different colors throughout the building, and the administration’s desire to showcase HCC’s art collection (which happens to be the largest collection of art held by any two-year institution in the whole country). Every wall in Beacon Hall’s public spaces has 5” x 8” plywood to help support the art (hint: the white walls will be adorned with art).
The security systems in place in Beacon Hall were wholly a creation of McNamara. In fact, the security system is not unlike the systems in place at Lafayette Hall. As soon as you walk into Beacon Hall the first thing you’ll notice is a room with security guards closely monitoring the halls.
“I did this intentionally. When students walk into the building, they know that there are people watching, not for fun, but in order to maintain our status as one of the safest college institutions in the Fairfield county,” he said.
In 1996, when Lafayette Hall (which was also completed by McNamara) opened, there were 2,800 students, of which only 300 were full-time students. Now there are 5,017-plus full-time students in a new state of the art building. It took six years for this project to finally be on the last phase of completion. A few years of planning and filling out paperwork, a year of construction and we can now see the fruits of the efforts put forth by everyone involved in this project.
A lot of meticulous planning was put into this building, and it was done with you, the student, in mind. McNamara gave these words of advice for all students and staff:
“It’s a brand new building. Enjoy it and have fun, but be respectful of everything within it…I will be the one to get a heart attack when I see a student’s name engraved on a table.”
All in all, Beacon hall is a great new addition to HCC and an even greater addition to the flourishing city of Bridgeport, even if it’s not finished yet.
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