Student Center Gets New Look
NUHS alumni attending Homecoming 2017 were the first to experience the major updates to the Student Center gymnasium and SC1 and SC2 classrooms, followed soon after by NUHS students taking their final trimester exams.
Entering the building, alumni were greeted with new flooring and repainted walls in the west entrance. New ceiling, wall paint, and flooring enhanced a number of homecoming events held in the gym.
While replacing flooring might sound like a fairly simple upgrade, Facilities Director Mark Galvanoni said it was a particularly difficult project. Because the old floor had poured rubber over rough concrete, it took many days of hard labor by the facilities staff to scrape the surface off strip by strip. The new multi-use flooring will accommodate the variety of sports, academic and social events held in the facility. Renovations still to come include the installation of acoustical panels to increase sound quality.
The major project within the Student Center was the total gutting of the SC1 and SC2 classrooms. Though some of the projects were outsourced, according to Galvanoni, the NUHS facilities crew “was a key component in making the project possible.” They performed all the demolition, which included lecture hall seating, tables, and flooring, as well as assisted with painting, patching, and pulling wire for all the upgraded Wi-Fi and new audio system in the classrooms. The rooms also boast new mobile lecterns with electronic control to operate the audio-visual system, updated video screens and projectors to enhance faculty presentations, and stand-up desks in the last row to allow for accessible seating.
Renovation of the Student Center gym and classrooms is just one of the latest updates to the Lombard campus. Many of the campus improvements are based on feedback from students, faculty and staff over the years. For example, the campus coordinator met with Student Council members and the president of the basketball club to discuss the relining of the basketball courts in the gym.
“These latest renovations are an example of how we are listening, trying to improve everyone's National University experience, and make NUHS the best it can be,” Galvanoni said.
Before Renovation
During Renovation
After Renovation