$166,000 third floor overhaul adds color, lounge, studying options
The third floor of the Russell House received a colorful upgrade this summer, but it's not finished yet.
A bright blue-and-green palette of paint, carpeting and futuristically designed furniture, as well as new window shades, have replaced the third floor's decade-old furnishings. Flat-screen televisions and increased technological capabilities have also been added in an effort to enhance the experience of the student union.
The refurbishments for the entire third floor cost USC about $166,320, according to Kim McMahon, the director of the Russell House. The Parents Association provided funding for a TV Lounge outside of Carolina Styles with a donation of about $15,300, McMahon said.
The other $151,020 came from a portion of the student activity fund that the Russell House receives annually for upgrades and other projects. The money amounts to about $5 per student, McMahon said.
The refurbishments are intended to modernize the third floor and make it more "hangout accessible," but have not moved as quickly as expected. McMahon cited problems with the speed of manufacturing the different pieces ordered.
"It's been a slow reveal," she said. "We don't even have half of the furniture we ordered. We have all of the tables, but not even half of the chairs and benches."
The Russell House is waiting on 18 more seats, eight booths and five benches to be delivered from the manufacturer in the next two weeks.
The total number of seats will have increased from 32 last year to between 55 and 60 when the rest of the furniture arrives, both to make the lounges more appealing to students and also to accommodate the university's swelling student body.
"We ordered the furniture in June, anticipating it would all be here in time for school starting," McMahon said. "As the orders went from the vendors to the manufacturers, we experienced delays with the raw materials."
The furniture itself, which made up about $112,000 of the cost, includes what McMahon calls "olive" chairs — round pieces officially named Pluto benches that can be used as seats or footrests — as well as booths and round couches that can be moved apart and circled around tables for study groups and conversations. Doughnut-shaped tables McMahon endearingly calls "cheerio" tables add to the circular, new-age theme.
Taylor Cain, a first-year higher education graduate student was one of the students on the Russell House Advisory Board, a group of seven students, two faculty members and four staff members, who met once a month and gave feedback during the planning of the refurbishments. Cain said she likes the new look.
"It looks great," Cain said. "It adds color where we didn't have any. It's a different kind of vibe in a different part of the building. It's obvious Kim really took into consideration our ideas."
Alison Corbett and Briana Georges, fourth-year biology and psychology students, respectively, were also on the board and agreed with Cain's sentiments.
"I thought it was a great idea," Corbett said. "The space wasn't being occupied like it could have been. I actually enjoy coming up there to study now. The décor they picked out looks amazing."
"It turned out even better than I was expecting when we were planning in back in April," Georges said.
Fourth-year biology student Jane Lim also likes the new furniture.
"I love the color," Lim said. "It's definitely unique. The chairs are squishy, colorful, round — it gives it more of a lounging area appeal instead of a cafeteria feel."
McMahon said this is one phase of a larger Russell House makeover that started two years ago with the renovation of the ballroom and is expected to move down to the second level of the university union next year and replace the carpet, paint and furnishings there as well. She hopes for student feedback on the third floor so suggestions can be incorporated into second floor refurbishments.
Russell House is an important recruitment tool as well as an everyday utility, McMahon said, which adds to the importance of upgrading it.
"The overall goal is for students to feel proud of Russell House," she said. "We can't impact the bricks and mortar, but we can impact the inside and how you feel when you're here. We want students to value the spaces and feel good in them."