By: Colin Albright ’18, Staff writer
In order to provide students, faculty and the community with unrivaled service, Lebanon Valley College is renovating the Carnegie Building to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to Don Santostefano, senior director of facilities management, design of the new building took place in February and construction began in mid-June of this year.
“Expected completion of the construction is mid-October; however, some of the furniture may not be moved in by that time,” Santostefano said.
The improved building will be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The act requires businesses to provide accessibility into their establishments for disabled patrons.
“The renovated building will have a ramp that allows access to the main level as well as a bathroom on the first floor,” Santostefano said.
The Carnegie Building permanently houses the admissions and financial aid offices. Since construction has started, the operations staff utilizes the second floor of Carnegie, while the admissions counselors, senior assistant, director, vice president and a member of the financial aid staff have moved to the basement of the Vernon and Doris Bishop Library.
“We still have our weekly meetings in the library, and the visiting students go directly to the library to meet with financial aid and start their tour from there instead of from Carnegie,” Gina Messenger, admissions process manager, said.
The new layout of the building is expected to improve productivity between the operations staff and the admissions counselors, while also being more visually pleasing to prospective students. The renovated building will offer first floor meeting spaces and will be able to accommodate more people at a single time.
“The biggest improvement of the renovation is that the building will now be ADA compliant,” Messenger said. “Prospective students who are handicapped will be able to utilize the first-floor meeting spaces to meet with admissions counselors and financial aid.”
The renovation has impacted more than just full-time admissions faculty and staff members. Student workers who work alongside the admissions staff are also affected by the construction.
“This summer I was a part of the move from the admissions building to the library,” Jordan Rohrer, a junior physical therapy major, said. “At the time, myself and two other Valley Ambassadors were trying to figure out how the new system would work. It has definitely been different leaving from the library for tours, and working phones behind the circulation desk but the whole transition has gone pretty smoothly.”
Students, faculty and staff are all looking forward to the completion of the Carnegie Building later this fall.