MANDY WHITING ASUCLA has scheduled multiple renovation
projects in Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall, such as upgrading
the lighting systems.
By Debra Marisa Greene
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Associated Students of UCLA is giving Kerckhoff Hall and
Ackerman Union makeovers in the new year.
These remodeling projects are part of a continuous renovation
plan, much of which will be carried out over the summer. Certain
areas of Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union also underwent upgrades
over winter break.
“If you spend a lot of time at a facility that is worn
out, it negatively impacts you,” Jerry Mann, director of
student union and student support services, said about the need for
improvements.
In November, workers added brighter lights to the second-floor
lounge in Kerckhoff. They are adding the same type of lighting to
the third-floor study lounge.
Richelle Chuatuan, a third-year English student who noticed the
change in lighting on the second floor, said she is pleased that it
will also be done for the third floor.
“I always strained my eyes before,” she said,
“It’s great that I can actually see now.”
In addition to new lighting fixtures, the association will bring
in new furniture, such as heavy coffee tables, that Mann believes
will be able to withstand excessive use by students.
Nancy Kang, a fifth-year computer science student, said the old
furniture was worn down.
“There are always a lot of people studying in the lounge,
and some of the tables were wobbly,” she said.
Renovation of the third floor study lounge is partly funded by
the class of 2000 as their gift to ASUCLA. The complete remodeling
of the Kerckhoff study lounges will amount to $134,000, according
to Mann.
The new furniture and lighting fixtures were chosen to
complement the historic ambiance, said Pat Eastman, executive
director for ASUCLA.
Kerckhoff Hall was a gift to students by Louise Kerckhoff.
Ground was broken Nov. 8, 1921, and the building opened Jan. 20,
1931. It was then used as UCLA’s student union.
“We tried to work with its history in restoring it,”
Eastman said of the building.
The Ackerman Grand Ballroom is also being renovated.
Workers will add a soundproof curtain to the east side of the
ballroom to enhance acoustics, and lighting will improve as
well.
“Doing these two things have improved our ability to host
events because events depend on good lighting as well as sound
quality that is much more versatile,” said Mann, who said the
cost of the ballroom remodeling is $45,000.
The ballroom is scheduled to reopen Jan. 29.
Other current renovations include replacing the second-floor
women’s rest room in Kerckhoff Hall with new tiles and sinks.
It will be finished by the end of the week, Mann said.
Over winter break, workers resurfaced and placed new tiles on
the Ackerman patio and on the second-floor bridge linking Ackerman
to Kerckhoff Hall. They also replaced the coffee bar at
Jimmy’s Coffee House.
ASUCLA officials decided to have many of the projects worked on
over break to take advantage of the majority of the UCLA
community’s absence from campus.
“Having such a busy plant as we have makes it difficult
for us to close venues, rooms and bathrooms,” Mann said.
“We have to wait for a window like winter break or the end of
summer.”
For the summer, Mann said he hopes to build a new floor for the
Kerckhoff Art Gallery and to add new furniture in the second floor
Kerckhoff study lounge.