The student lounge has taken on many forms over the past decades. First, it was located on the first floor of the Geology building, an accordion wall separating the student lounge from the faculty conference room. Soon after, those rooms were converted to offices and the lounge had to find a new home. Enter the fourth floor. The lounge on the fourth floor, furnished with a ratty couch, was long and narrow and not very comfortable. Many students may remember the space simply as “the bowling alley”. The lounge didn’t last too long on the fourth floor, however. Soon after it served as an office for about 6-8 graduate students and then it served as a simple and poorly equipped storage space.
It took some time, but with the renovation of the Geology labs (reported in the 2012 GeoGram), a supportive external review that noted the need for a student lounge, and support from Dean Banavar and his able staff (Associate Dean Tom McMullen and Director of Facilities Sean Davis), a new lounge was built by tearing down walls on the 4th floor of Geology. The lounge is a far cry from the office that it called home on the first floor of the Geology Building so many years ago. With its open and inviting space, this new 770 square foot lounge provides seating, an espresso maker, computers, widescreen projector a foosball table and some pretty spectacular photo art taken by Department students and faculty.
The students in Geology deserved a space of their own and we’re glad we could finally give them something that fits the bill.