Some students tested furniture for the new Anderson Student Center Wednesday and gave feedback on what they liked.
Gaming, dance and banquet chairs and couches were among the furniture items tested from noon to 4:30 p.m. in the Blue Lagoon. Students can test the furniture again from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and they can also take a survey about their preferences after testing the furniture.
Mary Ann Ryan, executive director of campus and residence life, said, “There will be 3,000 pieces of furniture in the Anderson Student Center, and so we want students to test out some of the furniture that’s going to be in the center and give us some feedback on it.”
Junior Meg Veitenheimer said she enjoyed testing the furniture.
“I appreciate this,” Veitenheimer said. “I think it’s a good idea to have more student involvement with decisions.”
Sophomore Katie Bromback said she liked the options.
“I think they’re really cool. A lot of them are really different than what we have now, so that’s awesome,” she said. “From what I’ve felt so far they seem pretty comfy and kind of funky.”
Ryan said a similar furniture testing was done when Flynn Hall was built. Flynn Hall was originally named Selby Hall and was dedicated in 2005.
“It’s just something we like to do when we’re building space that we know students are going to use,” Ryan said.
Junior Matthew Davidson said his favorite piece of furniture was the dance chair.
“I like to dance, so any furniture in the dance studio is nice,” he said.
Many students chose a green gaming chair as their top pick, which could impact the number of those types of chairs in the center, Ryan said.
“Most students have loved the green chair for our gaming area, so we were originally going to get two,” Ryan said. “So if we get enough positive student feedback, we will swap out some other chairs that we might have had and get more of these and fewer of something else.”
Davidson said, “It is kind of cool to have a say as far as what they’re going to eventually put in and get a little preview of it.”
Lizzy Schmitt can be reached at schm9587@stthomas.edu.
I’d rather see the new facility full of the nice leather couches that typically are in the Blue Lagoon. The new furniture looked and felt more uncomfortable.
Must have been a slow news day…
Question for the new student center: will it be accessible 24/7 for students? I think that it is quite absurd that UST does not have any buildings that are always open for students. Even Murray closes down at midnight during the week. If you look at the U, you will find most of their buildings to be fully accessible to the U students. Why can’t we have the same opportunity?
@Matthew, the new styles of furniture match what the new complex will be like inside. Leather couches wouldn’t be depictive of that style.
Then perhaps we should have voted on the style of the building too?