Campus gets updates during summer vacation
The University of Indianapolis has made many improvements to campus over this summer, such as updating two residence halls, landscaping, building repairs and moving entire departments.
Some of the buildings that received improvements were Cory Bretz Hall and Cravens Hall. The changes included updated bathrooms, new carpeting, sprinkler systems and overhead lighting. Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli oversaw these changes.
“[We’ve made] some really nice changes that were needed in those residence halls. I think the residents will really like and appreciate it a lot,” Vitangeli said.
According to Vitangeli, many features in Cory Bretz and Cravens were part of the original buildings. Some of the buildings’ safety features also needed to be updated.
“The bathroom partitions were falling apart. Some of them are in need because those were the original bathrooms of the buildings,” Vitangeli said. “There were also general safety issues. Not having fire safety sprinklers in them is a risk to students.”
Junior resident assistant Stephanie Kalili is stationed in Cory Bretz this year. During the renovations, she lived in Roberts Hall, but she is enthusiastic about the improvements to her own residence hall.
“I’m really excited to have overhead lighting; that’s a big deal,” Kalili said. “I’m just really excited to have all of these renovations.”
Kalili also is eager to have updated dorms that resemble some of the residence halls for upperclassmen. She believes that this will help freshmen feel welcome.
“We had a lot of residents that had problems with the building in general—how old it looks, how the upperclassmen buildings are so much nicer compared to the freshmen buildings,” Kalili said. “So definitely having these renovations is telling them that we do care about the freshmen, we do want to better the places.”
Other changes included landscaping projects all around campus. Due to the drought last summer, the physical plant was not able to lay grass. This year’s cooler temperatures allowed them to fill in the missing grass and finish planting along the newly completed Hanna Avenue.
According to Vitangeli, every year a list of possible campus projects is put together. After consulting the budget, summer projects are chosen. This summer also saw many improvements to Campus Apartments—both inside and out.
“For the Campus Apartments, we went and cleaned out the entire air ducts to improve the air quality in the campus apartment,” Vitangeli said. “There were some improvements done around the Campus Apartments’ grounds. We took out all the old bushes, dug those out and put some new landscaping in around all the apartments.”
Some of the final improvements included fixing brick work on Lilly Hall, fixing the elevator in Krannert Memorial Library and creating a new advising center on campus.
According to Vitangeli, the ground underneath Lilly Hall settled, and the brick work shifted, causing it to crack. The building did not need to be repaired due to settling, but due to the brick work.
The new advising center is located on the second floor of the Schwitzer Student Center. This center has brought all of the key advisors together in one space.
Vitangeli said that the projects should be finished in time for students to move in, and she is excited about the improvements.
“It’s been a busy but great summer,” Vitangeli said. “And I think everyone will really enjoy the improvements we’ve made on campus.”
