After being closed for the 2022-23 academic school year, Pierson Hall has reopened with various new updates.

Pierson Hall, on the South Dakota State University campus, has opened to students this school year after being worked on and remodeled during the 2022-23 academic year. With updates such as new windows, heating and cooling system, furniture, and appliances, many students are happy to have Pierson’s doors open again.

Rebecca Peterson, director of Housing and Residential Life, said the Pierson remodel had been on the docket for awhile. It started off as a heating and cooling project along with windows, but often realized that by taking the building “offline” that they would need to fulfill some aesthetic pieces. Their main goal for the beginning of the year was to have the rooms done and ready for the students.

Pierson Hall, which houses freshman and sophomore students, has many updated features compared to some of the other dorms around campus. One of those updates is open-beamed ceilings. Peterson said having the beams open was a “purposeful” decision.

“We purposefully kept it open because we thought it would look better and cleaner as opposed to putting in a drop ceiling,” Peterson said. “In Jackrabbit Village and Schultz Hall, the ceilings are a little bit higher, and we wanted to create more space in those rooms and that was one way to do it.”

Many students also enjoy the added height of the ceilings in the dorm and agree that it adds a more spacious feel to the dorms that can often feel so small.

Another update to Pierson Hall was the furniture. There is new furniture in the study, areas, the main lobby, and also in the rooms. The new beds though have had mixed reviews. Some students do not enjoy the new beds due to not being able to move around and personalize their room.

The new beds have a built-in desk in the bottom, ladders, and a side protector to ensure you don’t roll off your lofted bed.

Sydney Simonson, who lives in Pierson Hall said how she was “bummed” about not having as much drawer space compared to other halls, but enjoys the various pull-out mechanisms that are connected to the desks.

Peterson said that the reason for the new furniture in the dorms was simply just to try something new and to “give students more of an option to self-loft in a different way.”

Peterson does recognize that the tricky part of the new furniture in the dorms is the space underneath and is not sure if the same furniture will be chosen in future projects.

Some other updated features are new windows that bring in more light, especially if you are in the study areas and the lounges on floors two, three, and four. Another feature are adjustable lights/dimmers in the rooms along with new furniture for the “Hobo Hangout” located in the basement of Pierson.

Even though the “Hobo Hangout” is not finished yet, Peterson said that they hope to have it finished in mid-October.

“It’s a collection of things. You have to get the main part done and figure out the other pieces, but it all comes together,” Peterson said.