The renovated Harden Hall and Lydia Olson Library have drawn some mixed opinions. On the one hand, there’s the comparisons to hospital facilities and the use of adjectives like “bleak” to describe the mostly-white, ultra-sleek new facilities. On the other hand, the buildings’ more frequent residents are happy to finally be back where they belong.
“I like it a lot better than what we had in Gries [Hall],” student library employee Amara Johnson says. “It’s a lot more easy-flowing and I do a lot more stuff here… it’s in the center of campus.”
The library may be getting a lot more foot traffic than its temporary location in Gries Hall did, but Harden Hall is still a point of contention, especially for students who don’t realize until too late that its third-floor classrooms can’t be reached from the library. The recent snowstorm hasn’t helped, with the monochrome palette of the building being somewhat spoiled by dirt and snow tracked in from thousands of snow boots every day. Still, the professors who have taken up professional residence on Harden’s fourth floor are looking on the bright side.
“Before, when [the professors] were on two different floors, there wasn’t a lot of interaction,” adjunct economics professor Dan Kill says. “Now, [the economics professors are] with everyone, and I appreciate that, being around other departments. You can learn stuff, and if nothing else, rekindle friendships.”
While the new buildings have only been open for a few weeks, students might want to keep an open mind. After all, it took almost sixty years for the building to be renovated the first time— so it’s safe to assume the new Harden Hall is here to stay.
