The Commuter Lounge Reopens with Significant Remodeling

Commuter students came back from winter break to a closed Commuter Lounge; this led to various questions as to why and when it will be open again for them to study, eat, and simply wait for their next class to start. The Commuter Lounge has since reopened after two and a half weeks of it being closed off.

The Remodeled Commuter Lounge

Students may still be wondering why the Commuter Lounge was closed in the first place. Clarke Facilities says one of the main reasons being that it was “needing some updates” and that “There were some unnecessary things in the lounge. The extra fridge would be an example of this.” The facilities and maintenance team ultimately did this to make commuter students feel more comfortable in an open space for them to study.

When one walks in, they see new couches, chairs, tables, and bar-tops to allowstudents more space to study. The brand new tables and bar-tops were handmade from repurposed butcherblock by Jason Benn, a member of Clarke’s facilities and management team. There are now less computers in the lounge, but the printer is still in the same place as before and is ready to use. In addition to these improvements, the vending machines, sink, microwaves, coffee maker, and fridge have now been moved to one wall in the room for more efficiency in heating up lunch brought from home.

Now that the Commuter Lounge has more space for things that students will actually find useful, Clarke Student Association has put up a piece of paper on the wall asking, “What can CSA do to liven up the place?” There are already a number of suggestions given by students like a television and rolling whiteboards for easy group studying.