After the removal of the P.O.D. convenience store in Lydia’s Lounge last year, students and administration are discussing what to do with the underutilized space in University Hall.
According to Student Body President Jason Blumenthal, the convenience store was removed because students were not using it as much as was needed to keep it open.
“I think having two P.O.D.s on a campus this size was probably not the best option,” Blumenthal said. “I think having two convenience stores for a population when they are going to go to the Student Center anyway doesn’t make sense.”
Director of Student Activities Tom Coy said keeping the convenience store was not financially practical and as ideas for what to put in its place are being generated, university budget restrictions need to be considered.
“There were many suggestions, [from] setting up a restaurant, to a game room, to leaving it as it is,” Coy said. “The most financially accessible option was to move it toward being a study lounge available to all students.”
Currently, undergraduate and graduate students have access to Lydia’s Lounge as a study space from 5-9:30 p.m.
Junior Michael Castelluccio lived in University Hall last year and said he would often study in Lydia’s Lounge but the hours were inconvenient.
“I will stay in the library until two or three in the morning studying, and if I had that space last year I could have used that, but it wasn’t open,” the theatre arts production and mechanical engineering double major said.
However, Coy said he hopes the current hours of operation can be altered.
“With the scanning process, we would like to extend those hours and make it usable [for all students] and also look at it as an alternative study space or a group project space compared to the library,” Coy said.
Coy said several students said they would use the space in place of going to the library.
“We have heard from students, especially as we go into finals and different busy times of the year, that [the library is] too jam packed,” Coy said. “We think for residential students on that side of campus, that if we could make it desirable, comfortable and an option, it might be a space they can come to and use instead.”
The space can also be used for campus programs, such as hosting meetings and events for organizations, upon request.
“I’m referring to it as a study space available that has programming opportunities within there,” Coy said.
As the first step in improving the lounge, old furniture was removed and other furniture was rearranged Feb. 17 to include four high top tables, two small circular tables and two longer style tables, each table seating four to five people. The space also includes two flat screen televisions, according to Coy.
“We can’t afford to do a complete overhaul of Lydia’s Lounge,” Coy said. “We are looking at how to slowly add pieces as we find budget available to add comfortable seating in there with the goal of making this a usable study lounge.”
The space that was previously the convenient store is now closed off and vacant indefinitely.
“That has some structural [renovations] that would have to be done before providing access to students,” Coy said. “It’s not able to be open and just accessed until some significant modifications are made that are not within university budget right now.”
Another obstacle in renovating Lydia’s Lounge is figuring out how to inform students about the possibilities for the space.
“When [students] hear ‘Lydia’s Lounge,’ they don’t even know where that is,” Coy said. “Another element for us is coming up with a marketing campaign so people know where and what it is.”
Junior Student Body Speaker of the Assembly Sarah Handler said she is unsure if marketing the lounge as an area for all students would be best, due to its location.
“I don’t know, given where it is on campus, if [making it a study room] would be the most feasible option because you aren’t going to accidentally stumble into Lydia’s Lounge,” Handler said. “You have to go there very intentionally and that should be taken into consideration when they decide what to do with it.”
According to Blumenthal, his number one priority is to get student feedback before investing in any expenditure.
“It wouldn’t make sense to invest money that students don’t want to use,” Blumenthal said. “The number one thing I always say is come talk to Student Senate. We are always willing to work with the facilities and see what we could do to improve [them].”
If students would like to voice their opinion, Student Senate General Assembly meetings are Mondays from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Garrett Multicultural Center.
