Ashland University’s Amstutz Hall was damaged by an electrical fire on Nov. 28. All 142 residents were quickly relocated to other halls around the campus and no students were injured.
Since the incident, new plans have been in place to repair the building and make an impressive transformation, but this time with upperclassmen in mind.
“We’re right in heavy demolition right now of a lot of spaces in Amstutz, and that’s all to facilitate a pretty extensive renovation,” said Vice President of Operations and Planning, Patrick Ewing.
The plan is to demolish the entire restroom-core of the building to create new pod-style bathrooms. There will be six of these private bathrooms on each floor, still in the center of the building; they will not be connected to the rooms themselves. Each bathroom will include a sink, toilet and shower for students to use.
Unlike the previous state of Amstutz Hall, the new and improved building will now include an air conditioning unit in each room.
Another notable change being made to the residence hall is the exterior. There are plans to take the exterior wall off — the main wall students face when coming off the elevator — and replace that with glass.
“So, we’re going to be bringing a lot of natural light into this space and really creating a nice aesthetic,” said Ewing.
Other improvements to be made around the building include new flooring, new paint, new lighting and new furniture for the rooms.
A study room will also be added to the lobby on each floor. “Similar to what’s in Clayton Hall, where kind of a glass space for two to four people can go in and go group projects or study,” said Ewing.
The ninth floor of the residence hall is currently and has been the President’s Suite since the 90’s, when it was renovated by former AU president, Dr. G. William Benz.
However, it will be getting a different purpose and will be completely renovated over the summer.
“The ninth floor was previously a kind of executive suite; it had a couple of conference rooms, one very large board room, a dining room and there was actually a small efficiency apartment up there as well for a guest to stay,” explained Ewing.
“It really hasn’t been used for the last five or six years.”
New plans for that floor include five two-bedroom apartments and a one-bedroom apartment that will be fully handicap accessible.
“Ultimately, we’re going to get what would be 11 bedrooms up there in apartment-style housing,” said Ewing.
For the rest of the floors, the bedrooms will stay the same size but are getting updated along with the rest of the building. For the foreseeable future, many of those rooms will be identified as singles. However, there are four corner rooms on each floor that will most likely going to be set up as doubles.
With fall housing applications on the horizon, Ewing has been working closely with Residence Life to make sure the process runs smoothly for everyone.
“I think because this is a newly renovated space, it has air conditioning, the pod bathrooms, and now if we make them singles, we’ll probably offer them to seniors and upperclassmen first and see where things land,” said Ewing.
Amstutz’s neighboring building, Kem Hall, will remain a freshman residence hall. This summer, it will be receiving new elevators to improve the first-year students’ experience in the upcoming fall semester.
