Stewart Renovation Updates

For the past 3 weeks, Stewart Hall has been subject to serious construction and remodeling. Workers have started construction on the first floor and have been slowly improving the physical conditions of one of the first buildings built at Southern University.
The improvements include new flooring, better lighting, new ceilings and new insulation. Construction workers have also put fresh new paint on the walls and are in the process of remodeling and renovating the restrooms. Tia Jones, a Sophomore Therapeutic Recreation major from Houston had this to say about the improvements in Stewart, “I decided to walk through the building one day as a short cut and I was very pleased with the results. It looks like an entirely new building and it just makes me happy that Southern is making improvements.”
Prior to the renovation, Stewart Hall was starting to show its age with missing ceiling tiles, bad flooring, and frequent flooding of the restrooms. As Stewart Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus, students and faculty are glad that the building is finally receiving attention. This is especially true for the people who call Stewart Hall home, the Mass Communications, Elementary Education, SUSLA, and tutoring departments, as they actively use the building.
Those very people though, while grateful for the renovation, have criticized the timing of the construction as it has displaced a couple of the departments who traditionally have been in the building, such as the SUSLA department that has had to relocate to the third floor, and has been a general annoyance as workers are constantly moving in and out of the building and areas are repeatedly off-limits due to the construction. One of the Academic Advising Specialists for SUSLA, Kevin Vital, understands that renovations are an important part of keeping buildings safe and up to date, “renovations are what they are. I have still been able to do my job even though they [administration] did relocate us to the third floor. It’s amazing what some paint, some new LED lights, and a new floor will do for the aesthetics of the building.”
As the end of the semester approaches, professors are beginning to assign more work, including end of the semester final projects. Stewart contains top of the line technology that students in the building need in order to be successful in their classes that they otherwise would not be able to find anywhere else on campus. This includes Mac desktops that have applications installed on them specifically for certain classes and an active news studio with camera and recording equipment.
There have been entire weeks where students weren’t able to access certain parts of the building due to the construction. The Mass Communications hallway had had its floors completely redone but because the floor was still drying, classes had to be canceled which resulted in incomplete assignments. Keaton Dishing is a sophomore therapeutic recreational major that uses the building for work study. “I am happy that the building is being renovated and it is turning out very nice, however, I feel like it could have been done at a better time over the summer or during the winter break because a lot of my friends have been complaining about not being able to use the computers in the computer lab.” He also plans to change his major to Mass Communications next semester and is “looking forward to enjoying a fresh new building”. 
The construction can be described as bittersweet. But students and faculty are aware that the construction is necessary and will have to adjust to the current conditions until the project is fully finished.

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Renovations undeway in Stewart Hall (Lealer Sims/DIGEST)