LC overhaul hopes to end student suffering

Linsly-Chittenden Hall has never been known for its comfort. That's why the Yale administration hopes that LC's overheated rooms and cramped seats will soon be nothing but a distant memory.

With funding from outside gifts and the capital maintenance fund, the Yale administration is currently renovating LC in order to improve both its classroom facilities and its ability to serve all students and faculty.

"One major problem was that only portions of the first floor were accessible for the handicapped," Yale's Dean of Administrative Affairs, John Meeske, said. "We want to make the entire building accessible, or at least as much as possible." Meeske also cited the notorious lecture hall LC 101 as a substantial problem, describing it as an "awful, flat, huge room, terrible for teaching."

The renovations to LC will not only solve existing problems, but will also dramatically improve the facility. When LC reopens next fall, it will be air-conditioned, and will contain modern classrooms and greatly enhanced computer connections.

LC's appearance will receive a face-lift as well. "LC 102 has some very beautiful architecture, but it hasn't been treated very sensitively," Meeske said. Although LC 102 was previously renovated, Meeske pointed out that these renovations were completed in a manner that detracted from, rather than added to, the existing architectural atmosphere of the room. Meeske hopes that this round of renovations will remedy this problem.

In the revamped LC,, faculty offices will no longer be scattered throughout the building's several floors. "The renovations allow us to consolidate departmental offices on the first floor and classrooms on the lower floors, with individual offices of professors on the upper floors," Meeske said. He commented that this will increase the building's continuity and order, and will help improve the building's traffic flow.

The plans to renovate LC were formulated almost two years ago, according to Associate Provost Lloyd Suttle. Construction started last year in areas such as "the basement and insulation, which could be worked on without affecting classes," and began in full force this May.

Although previous renovations of academic buildings, such as those on William L. Harkness Hall several years back, have been able to take place completely over the summer, , the physical design and degree of renovations of LC made this option impossible.

As a result, the English Department has been relocated to the New Haven Savings Bank and classes have been rescheduled and reshuffled. Despite the inconvenience, though, Suttle said that he believes the renovations were necessary because of LC's status as one of Yale's largest classroom buildings.

Meeske agreed that LC's time for a complete overhaul had come. "The building has been a real hodge podge," Meeske said. "It used to be two buildings, and when it was combined into one building in the '30s, it wasn't done that well. So many things need to be improved."

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