Kali Lingen

Future residents of Binnewies Hall will be noticing a big change to the bathrooms.

“(Currently), there are no walls between the showers, just curtains,” said freshman Alex Carney.

“When I was in the shower the other day, the shower head flew off at me,” the music merchandising major said.

The Board of Regents approved a remodel to the residence hall’s bathrooms at its April 2 meeting.

“There was no surprise on the support of the Board of Regents,” said Michael Reger, executive vice president for administration.

The Binnewies bathroom project will cost $1.8 million and should be ready by the fall of 2009.

There was a decision between remodeling the bathrooms in Binnewies Hall and replacing the windows in Pierson Hall. Reger said the bathroom project was a priority.

“The options of both projects were weighed, but the Binnewies bathroom project is more serious [than the Pierson window project]. Good bathrooms are something the residents deserve, and we need to provide,” said Kristen Carlisle, the Larson Complex Director.

Amanda Knutson, a community assistant in Binnewies, said she is looking forward to the bathroom remodel.

“Although I won’t be here next year [as a CA], I’m excited about the bathrooms,” said Knutson, a health physical education recreation major.

Ashley Walz, a pre-nursing major who will be a CA in Binnewies next year, said she is really excited about the bathroom project and to be living there next year.

“The new bathrooms are going to be so great, and I am very excited for them,” Walz said.

The bathroom remodel project could mean the possibility of drawing more residents to Binnewies. Knutson and Carlisle said they think more people will want to live in a hall with new bathroom facilities.

“A lot of people don’t know about the bathroom project because it happened fast. People may not move over right away, but I think eventually they will,” said Carlisle.

While designing the layout of the bathrooms for the projects, the committee asked for student input.

Two summers ago, Pierson and Mathews halls went through a bathroom remodel. Although different architects are being used to design the bathrooms, Carlisle said in general, the layout will be similar. Hansen Hall also has newer bathrooms. Mathews, Pierson and Hansen also had laundry rooms put on each floor. Carlisle said a laundry room on every floor is an option they are looking at, but with a tight timeline, it could not happen.

“The main concern is the bathrooms, and we need them functioning in August, not October, but laundry rooms on the floors are an added bonus we would like to provide,” Carlisle said.

Since the Binnewies bathroom remodel project was chosen over Pierson’s window replacement project, Reger and Carlisle both said the Pierson project is an option for the summer of 2010. If another project arises in the residence halls before then, they will look at a need-versus-want situation, Carlisle said.