WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN -5
RESIDENCE HALLS
Ellsworth construction nearing completion
A newly renovated room sits on the 10th floor of Ellsworth Hall. The residence hall, shut down for remodeling last year, is scheduled to reopen this fall.
Zach Straus/Kansan
By Brandon Baker
bbaker@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Construction crews working ahead of schedule have Ellsworth Hall nearly completed. Murray and Sons Inc. has finished most of the10th floor, leaving minor construction on the remaining nine floors.
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"Ellsworth has 40 percent more floor space than Lewis or Templin and we were concerned that it wouldn't be done on time," said Michelle Moore, complex director of the housing office administration.
For now, those concerns were gone, Moore said.
The interior design of Ellsworth Hall no longer appears as it did when Jimmy Ingraham, Lenexa senior, lived there in the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000.
Ellsworth's doors will reopen Aug.17, 2003, after being closed since May 17, 2002, greeting a new batch of freshmen and returning students, said Ken Stoner, director of student housing.
"It was pretty filthy there," Ingraham said. "It needed to be remodeled a year before I got there."
The new design cost of $12.5 million departed from the original design in mostly aesthetic ways, Stoner said. The cost is higher than the total project costs for the $5 million Templin Hall and $6.2 million Lewis Hall.
In the old Ellsworth Hall, students shared two communal bathrooms on each floor.
Ingraham said only two of the four showers on his floor worked.
"It sucked pretty bad," Ingraham said of the living conditions in the residence hall.
Most floors now offer eight suites, each with a private bath, and room for four students.
Moore said the spacious rooms followed design recommendations from students living in other residence hall's suites.
The bathroom and closet space did shrink,but the communal living space expands with counter tops,a sink,room for a microwave and a residence hall refrigerator
Ellsworth has three types of rooms other than the suites: two-person rooms with a private bath, traditional two-person rooms with communal bathroom and two-person studios. The two-person studios are on the first and second floors
"Ellsworth has 40 percent more floor space than Lewis or Templin and we were concerned that it wouldn't be done on time."
Michelle Moore Ellsworth and Hashinger halls complex director
below the main entrance of the residence hall.
All rooms contain "loftable," or stackable, beds and furniture made of maple, a departure from traditional oak furniture in other residence halls at the University of Kansas, said Carol von Tersch, assistant director of housing maintenance. The walls of each room resound with hospital-clean white walls and vinyl floors.
Freshmen could not occupy these larger studio apartments, Moore said.
"There are no closet doors because we found them to be virtually impossible to maintain." von Tersch said.
Floor-to-ceiling windows in each lobby above the fourth floor offer students a picturesque view of campus.
Other design changes were not purely aesthetic. Message boards on each floor break up the 340-foot hallway, extending from the east corridor through the lobby and into the west corridor.
"We removed the fire doors to comply with fire codes." von Tersch said.
The need for fire doors dissipated when a sprinkler system was added to the design plan.
Other compliances with fire codes include additional outdoor exits from all external staircases.
Along with housing for students Ellsworth will be the first residence hall with a faculty apartment and office in the building.
The inception of the faculty in residence accompanies the new Experiencing Excellence in Ellsworth program or 3E.
Moore said 3E focused on academics and increased student involvement on each floor.
The University plans to remodel Hashinger Hall after the completion of Ellsworth.
—Edited by Amy Kelly
Zach Straus/Kansan
A tangle of wires stretch across the ground on the third floor of Ellsworth Hall. The residence hall, still under construction, will be ready for regular use in the fall.
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