UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The East Halls Renovation Project, which began in 2014, has nearly reached its completion, and the milestone was celebrated with a ceremony on July 30 at Findlay Commons.
The final three East residence halls undergoing renovation — Hastings, Snyder and Stone — will come back online Aug. 19, just in time for students returning to campus for fall arrival. Upon completion of the project, East Halls will house 4,180 beds.
“This project has been so successful, and the demand for renovated East by students is so strong that we could fill it twice,” said Conal Carr, executive director of capital & facilities planning for Penn State Housing and Food Services. “People look at it and know how great it is.”
The renovation project was a joint venture between Penn State, Clayco, Mackey Mitchell Architects, and DLA+ Architecture. Earle Hall, a brand-new residence hall, was the first part of the project to break ground in the spring of 2016. Despite pauses in construction and delays due to COVID-19, the overall project has reached a successful conclusion.
“I remember very lengthy essay questions that were part of the submittal (for this project), but they were thoughtful questions,” said Steve Emer, principal at Mackey Mitchell Architects and a key contributor since the start of the renovation project. “They were all geared toward, ‘talk to us about how the renovation project can support the first-year experience.’ It’s really amazing when I think back to all the things I talked about — community, support, students feeling like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Those are a lot of words, but what we’ve accomplished here, it’s manifest.”
The renovated halls have new and efficient building systems, including climate-controlled living spaces, improved social and residence life programming and meeting spaces, community kitchens, laundry rooms, and shared semi-private bathrooms in the core of each floor.
“If you have the opportunity to walk around the quads at 9, 10 or 11 p.m., you’ll see so many students just hanging out in the (residence hall) lobbies, enjoying the space,” Carr said. “That’s a testament to the work that everyone has done — Penn State and its partners together.”
The project has impacted Penn State students in unique ways. Alexis Lubman enrolled in Penn State in 2016 and lived in Brumbaugh Hall in East. She began a summer internship with Clayco in 2019, and after graduation, she was hired by the company full time. In her permanent role, she had the opportunity to work on the East Halls project and even participated in renovating her former residence hall and room.
“That’s a great example of the outstanding students here, and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re about — creating an experience for our students,” Carr said. “This team has done that in many ways.”
Even with the completion of the East Halls project, renovations to the residence halls at University Park are not finished. Penn State and its partners will pause before beginning a new project in May 2025, renovating Pollock Halls. Pollock is anticipated to be a five-year project, and in the future, attention will turn toward renovating West Halls.
“There’s no finish line, just laps as we get through (renovating) 60 residence halls on campus,” said Rich O’Donald, Office of Physical Plant design and construction project manager.
Last Updated August 7, 2024
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