By Mariah Bennett | Staff Writer
Three months into the 14-month construction plan, Collins Hall renovations are on track. According to Curtis Odle, associate director for facilities and operations, the residence hall is set to reopen in August 2023.
Odle said via email that the most dramatic change to the building will be a grand primary entrance on the side facing Pat Neff Hall, although there will be many other changes.
“The old Collins Dining Hall will be a fully renovated community lounge and lobby space for residents to enjoy,” Odle said. “The other big changes is to the community bathrooms. Collins will remain a community bath hall, but the bathrooms will incorporate a pod-style setup with each pod including a shower, toilet and sink.”
As of Aug. 22, Odle said demolition through the fifth floor is complete, and demolition on the sixth floor is in the works.
“A renovation like this project requires a lot of demolition,” Odle said. “At the same time, work has begun on the lower floors to frame out new staff apartments and new community space. Crews have started drilling holes through the concrete floor slabs to make way for new plumbing and electrical lines.”
Shawnee, Kan., senior and former Collins resident Jordan Marr said she thinks the residence hall will benefit from the renovation.
“When I lived there, the building had issues due to its age, especially with things like the bathrooms and elevators, so I think it’s necessary to update it,” Marr said.
Garden Grove, Calif., junior and former Collins community leader Lexi Serrano said the renovation is necessary, although it may affect the experience of incoming freshmen because of the reputation Collins holds to provide a lot of opportunities for women to meet and find lifelong friends.
“In my experience as a community leader in Collins, I found that residents typically choose to live there not because of the quality of the building or the location, but because they are seeking to find the close-knit community that Collins is known to have provided for many freshman girls over the years,” Serrano said.
Marr said while the renovation has the potential to interrupt freshman experiences, Baylor can improve on future disruptions by trying to get as much done over the summer break as possible.
“It’s difficult to plan renovations on a building like Collins, since it houses so many students,” Marr said.
