Hodgin Hall Renovations
Week 6: February 15-19
It's really going to happen! The Britton Company has been chosen as the contractor for the Hodgin Hall renovation project. The contract still needs to be finalized.
Florencio Olguin, a work-study in the Alumni Relations Office, completed a creative presentation about Hodgin Hall and the coming changes. We think you'll enjoy it!
Week 3: January 25-28
Most of our boxes are unpacked and we've become accustomed to more "corporate" surroundings than we had in Hodgin Hall. These include carpeting, contemporary furniture and hallways!
On Thursday we'll hold our first Alumni Association executive committee meeting in our – be impressed – conference room. As of now, the heat isn't functioning perfectly there, so we've discussed providing lap throws for the members.
On a similar chilly topic, Charlene's office starts the morning at a nippy 50 degrees.
Hodgin Update: The abatement continues…
Week 2: January 19-22, 2010
Temporary Quarters
Amazing as it seems to all the Alumni Relations staff, we are settled into our new offices and have begun business as usual – well, sort of. Hodgin Hall had been our second home for so many years that it had begun to define us. But the sense of adventure that a new environment brings is invigorating.
We wondered how it would ever happen. Fortunately, the folks at Moving Solutions figured it out. We followed their lead, loading everything we would need at our new setting into plastic boxes that stacked on a wheeled base – a great system, recyclable to boot! Beginning in the basement and working their way up, the hardy/hearty crew loaded 4 moving vans* full of furniture and boxes. By mid-afternoon, we were unloading and arranging.
Phones, internet, security system are all functioning again. Many of you will appreciate the fact that our popcorn-maker has yet to arrive. Once it does, normalcy will be restored.
*They'd already hauled 7 (or so) moving-van loads to storage.
Hodgin Hall Update: A selection committee is reviewing contractor proposals for Hodgin's renovation. After interviewing the finalists, the contractor will be chosen next week.
In the meantime, "environmental reconditioning" has begun – in Hodgin Hall's case, that means that the asbestos glue under the second layer of linoleum in the basement is being removed.
Week 1: January 12-17, 2010
The Fun Begins!
We're packing and moving, beginning this week. Both the staff and the crew from Moving Solutions are taking down, clearing out and wrapping the numerous and sundry treasures that Hodgin Hall has housed since its last renovation in 1982.
It's controlled chaos. Works of art were professionally packed and placed in special storage. Antiques and displays will go to long term storage. Program supplies and as-yet unsorted archival materials will go to short term storage. Furniture to be repaired or re-upholstered go to "available" storage so they can be worked on in the months before our return. And finally, furniture and supplies for the staff go directly to our temporary office.
Plans are to move into 1117 Stanford NE (in the former Court of Appeals offices on the north campus) on Tuesday, January 19. We'll open our doors to you all again the next morning – just be prepared for total confusion!
We thought those of you who know our beloved alumni director, Karen Abraham, would be impressed by her efforts to clear out and pack up her Hodgin Hall office. Two decades of stacking have come to an end!
