Students can now relax in renovated lounge in Northside

The construction in Northside Hall is finally over and students can once again enjoy the lounge, new and approved.

It took eight months for Carl DeBruyn, assistant director of facilities management, and his team to remodel the room. Everything from the sheet rock, walls, carpets, and furniture were removed and replaced.

"The carpet had been in there forever, and the walls weren't very good," said Dean Marvin Curtis of the Raclin School of the Arts.

Curtis said the project had to go through IU Bloomington first, and they created the design of the new lounge.

"[Bill O'Donnell] helped us fund the project," said Curtis. O'Donnell was also instrumental in helping pick the furniture and the carpet.

"That's the first room you see when you walk into the building," Curtis said. The atmosphere in the lounge is very different from before, with all new color schemes and lighting, and layout.

Recalling the condition of the lounge before, Curtis thinks this is a much better replacement.

"I think it's a great space now," Curtis said. "It's a place to study or have quiet conversations."

Students, too, are enjoying the new lounge already.

"I wouldn't come here at night because it was creepy-looking, but now everything is really nice," Sam Que said.

"It's what I think this place needed," Que said. "At the café, it's really hot and loud; in here, it's nice and quiet."

The lounge, formerly known to students as the "theatre lounge" is now officially called the East Lounge.

Aside from being a study room, the lounge is also expected to host receptions for the university. It was used to hold the retirement of professor David Barton last week.

Curtis still has some new additions to the room. He hopes to bring a piano into the East Lounge for receptions and shows, and plans to use the room after shows as well.

"I think it's a place we can bring guests," he said. "It's a very warm space and the furniture is very comfortable."

The patio is also being worked on. Curtis hopes that in the summer, it can be used for local concerts.

There are also 11 spaces available for the artwork of IU South Bend student and faculty.

"If you give students something nice," said Cutis, "they will keep it that way."