As Elon leaps into the future so does their residence halls. With lots of new buildings on campus it was also time for an upgrade for some of the oldest buildings.
Elon spent time over the summer this year to renovate Virginia Hall. They didn’t finish until Thursday evening around 5 p.m. For Elon junior Jake Lenett, who’s about to start his first year as an RA, this made it difficult for him to move into his own room on the first floor.
“I have to figure out a way to get my stuff into my room after I get everyone else sorted here,” he said. “It’s hard because I’ve been trying to make bulletin boards and door decoration things but having the building literally done last night made it hard for me to get the whole hall set up the way I wanted to ahead of time.” The Virginia RAs were living in temporary housing prior to the renovation’s completion.
Despite the late finish, Lenett says he likes the way the building turned out. “after seeing the renovation I can’t complain. Looks great here, spotless… They did a good job. Elon’s housing is incredible,” he said.
Lenett is far from the only person who is happy with the renovations. Elon President Connie Book said, “it’s beautiful, it’s carpeted, new lighting, new bathroom. Really amazing what we can do with these historic structures.”
Book also touched on the history and tradition of the neighborhood within the modernizing university. “I’m really proud of Elon’s commitment to sustainability, keeping our effort on keeping as much life in these buildings as we possibly can," Book said. "there’s something special about the historic neighborhood, it’s within the original walls of Elon and the community here is just great.”
Incoming freshman Kelsey Pettit also loved the renovations, calling it, “really new” and, “very modern.” “I love the sink and the floor. It’s bigger than I thought, I saw pictures and it definitely looks a lot more spacious.”
Pettit, who is living in the Outdoor Learning Community LLC on the first floor of Virginia, says she’s excited to be living in the Historic Neighborhood. “I like Historic because it’s a community because you’re automatically in a group of people with similar interests and I’m excited for all the activities and opportunities,” she said.
The school has been gradually constructing and making renovations to Historic Neighborhood residence halls and will continue to do so over the coming summers, with Smith slated to be updated by move-in 2020.