Places to Relax around Beacon Hall
By Luiz Tassi
Staff Writer
New York City based real estate agents say one of the biggest attributes that sell a high end apartment are the views. Apartments overlooking Central Park sell for millions of dollars, and are often populated only by the rich and famous. But students at Housatonic Community College are being given a small taste of these luxuries. Beacon Hall, Hack’s newest building opened for the first time this semester, contains various large glass windows overlooking different parts of downtown Bridgeport and its local monuments.
While downtown Bridgeport is still a way away from rivaling downtown Manhattan, the views from Beacon Hall still offer a calm, serene view, and comfortable chairs for students create a great looking environment to spend some free time between classes.
The building has three of these pseudo lounges, located on opposite sides of the second floor, one side overlooking Lafayette street, the other overlooking Broad street, and the lounge that takes up the length of the third floor. Each of these views offers a unique setting to students, depending on which environment they work best in.
Third Floor-
The third floor is the most comfortable space for students. There are a number of long couches nearby which lie directly underneath windows that are tough to see through due to the thickness of the glass, and the plastic that covers it in order to keep to heat out. The floor is also lined with comfortable chairs and large tables, which make it easy to sit down and have room to lay all your books, without having to resort to writing with textbooks and notebooks falling all over your lap.
“It’s the best place to study,” says John Bennet, student at HCC, “there’s a lot of room, something that you don’t get in other places around the building.”
Unfortunately, even though it offers the most space, the area is near the entrance and exit to the parking lot, making it sometimes noisy and crowded. During times of heavy traffic, namely at the beginning and end of regular classes (9:30, 11:00, 12:30 and 5:00) people will be walking through the floor, talking on their cell phones and to their friends, and can easily be disturbing for someone looking for some quiet study time. Additionally, the views from the floor are blocked by the sides of the building, and the parking lot, making the environment less relaxing.
The third floor is ideal for people who don’t mind a little noise but don’t want the distraction of a nice view. If you need to get a lot of work done without the luxury of time to relax, just throw on your IPod and take a seat on the third floor.
Second Floor, Lafayette-
While not having the same amount of comfortable chairs, tables and couches as the third floor, or as nice a view as the Broad Street side, the Lafayette side of the has a nice mix of both. It contains a nice amount of chairs and tables, but no couches, and the view outside is decent, but not as good as the view from Broad Street. The view overlooks the intersection between Lafayette, I-95, and the parking lot, with cars driving by.
While enticing, the proximity to the street and the location outside a few class rooms makes it occasionally noisy.
“It can get kinda loud there,” says John Namoli, another HCC student.
But the space and view make it a great place to stay if you and a small group of friends need a place to stop and sit, because it allows a few friends a big enough space to sit down, without as much noise and commotion as the third floor.
Second Floor, Broad Street-
The Broad street side contains arguably the nicest view out of anywhere in HCC.
“It’s really nice there,” says HCC student Joao Maiolino “You can see I-95 and the side of the building. It looks really good.”
Unfortunately there are only two single chairs, which make it both impossible to relax with friends, and awkward to sit around if there are strangers in the other seat. In addition to only having two seats, it doesn’t have any tables, so writing can be a bit uncomfortable.
Even though it’s the most difficult area to get settled into, during slow days at HCC such as Fridays, where the buildings are nearly empty, it provides the most relaxing and beautiful view around.
While downtown Bridgeport is still a way away from rivaling downtown Manhattan, the views from Beacon Hall still offer a calm, serene view, and comfortable chairs for students create a great looking environment to spend some free time between classes.
The building has three of these pseudo lounges, located on opposite sides of the second floor, one side overlooking Lafayette street, the other overlooking Broad street, and the lounge that takes up the length of the third floor. Each of these views offers a unique setting to students, depending on which environment they work best in.
Third Floor-
The third floor is the most comfortable space for students. There are a number of long couches nearby which lie directly underneath windows that are tough to see through due to the thickness of the glass, and the plastic that covers it in order to keep to heat out. The floor is also lined with comfortable chairs and large tables, which make it easy to sit down and have room to lay all your books, without having to resort to writing with textbooks and notebooks falling all over your lap.
“It’s the best place to study,” says John Bennet, student at HCC, “there’s a lot of room, something that you don’t get in other places around the building.”
Unfortunately, even though it offers the most space, the area is near the entrance and exit to the parking lot, making it sometimes noisy and crowded. During times of heavy traffic, namely at the beginning and end of regular classes (9:30, 11:00, 12:30 and 5:00) people will be walking through the floor, talking on their cell phones and to their friends, and can easily be disturbing for someone looking for some quiet study time. Additionally, the views from the floor are blocked by the sides of the building, and the parking lot, making the environment less relaxing.
The third floor is ideal for people who don’t mind a little noise but don’t want the distraction of a nice view. If you need to get a lot of work done without the luxury of time to relax, just throw on your IPod and take a seat on the third floor.
Second Floor, Lafayette-
While not having the same amount of comfortable chairs, tables and couches as the third floor, or as nice a view as the Broad Street side, the Lafayette side of the has a nice mix of both. It contains a nice amount of chairs and tables, but no couches, and the view outside is decent, but not as good as the view from Broad Street. The view overlooks the intersection between Lafayette, I-95, and the parking lot, with cars driving by.
While enticing, the proximity to the street and the location outside a few class rooms makes it occasionally noisy.
“It can get kinda loud there,” says John Namoli, another HCC student.
But the space and view make it a great place to stay if you and a small group of friends need a place to stop and sit, because it allows a few friends a big enough space to sit down, without as much noise and commotion as the third floor.
Second Floor, Broad Street-
The Broad street side contains arguably the nicest view out of anywhere in HCC.
“It’s really nice there,” says HCC student Joao Maiolino “You can see I-95 and the side of the building. It looks really good.”
Unfortunately there are only two single chairs, which make it both impossible to relax with friends, and awkward to sit around if there are strangers in the other seat. In addition to only having two seats, it doesn’t have any tables, so writing can be a bit uncomfortable.
Even though it’s the most difficult area to get settled into, during slow days at HCC such as Fridays, where the buildings are nearly empty, it provides the most relaxing and beautiful view around.
No comments:
Post a Comment