Students are excited to see Young Hall’s nearly 50-year-old bathrooms updated with a $1.7 million renovation.

Reporter

Young Hall is saying goodbye to old and outdated, and hello to new and renovated as its bathrooms are scheduled to receive a construction overhaul.

Jennifer Quail, project manager for facilities and services, said the estimated $1.7-million construction project is set to begin May 9 and end August 15.

“Following finals week, all of Young Hall’s eight bathrooms will be gutted completely and replaced with new showers, sinks, toilets, fixtures and also updates to the heating and ventilation units,” Quail said.

Young Hall is one of the remaining residence halls on campus in need of bathroom renovations, and students living there are not sad to see the old bathrooms go.

“The bathrooms now are kind of scary,” said Courtney Nogelmeier, freshman from Homer, Neb. “They are definitely the stereotypical dirty college bathrooms.”

Along with new bathrooms, the renovation will include a new laundry station with two washers, four dryers and a utility sink. Nogelmeier said these changes make her more excited to live in Young Hall as a sophomore.

“It’ll be really great to have washers and dryers on every floor next year like some of the other dorms have,” Nogelmeier said. “Because of the updates that are going to happen I am more excited to live in Young next year.”

Quail said the renovation will be comparable to the new bathrooms that were installed in Binnewies Hall almost two years ago.

“The bathrooms will have a lot of similarities to Binnewies, but we tried to keep it a little unique with the finishing touches so you knew you were in a different building,” Quail said.

This is the first major renovation for the Young Hall bathrooms since the hall was built in the 1960s, and Quail said the project is well overdue.

“Young Hall is definitively in need of an upgrade,” Quail said. “We’ve been waiting a long time to get Young new bathrooms, so we are using our resources to the fullest extent to make that happens. It should be a great plus for the dorm.”

Kristen Carlisle, complex director of university housing, said the new bathrooms will make students feel more at home while living in Young Hall.

“We want the new bathrooms to add to the atmosphere of Young and make it feel more like home to students,” Carlisle said. “We’re really excited for this and think the residents will like the finished project.”

Carlisle said student input was a big part of the planning process for the project when it came to choosing color schemes and also the general layout of the bathrooms.

“We wanted to create something the students really wanted and give them a voice in the planning process,” Carlisle said. “If we can create a better atmosphere and make students happy, then it’s all worth it.”