The Campaign to Save Ball Hall

Remember that plastic hut that I was talking about in my last blog? Well, it’s not there anymore. After a day, maybe, of seeing exposed bricks, dry wall went up. It is taped and just waiting to be painted (at least, that was the case about an hour ago). Things certainly happen fast around here.

I hear the first floor of Ball is coming right along. Some of my office mates got to take a sneak peak and snap a couple of photos. It appears as though the dry wall is up in several places. But, reminders of the old Ball remain. Check out the photo of the wallpaper below. When we (the Office of Communications) inhabited the first floor, the wallpaper could be seen in the janitor’s closet (where we’d often borrow the sink seeing how there was no bathroom on the first floor back then). In addition to the dish pattern, there were pieces of wallpaper exhibiting a sailboat pattern in that closet. Which came first, the dishes or the sailboats? I don’t know. Do any of you?

-Tanya

Though work on the the ground floor is nearly complete, there are still some signs of construction; the most obvious being the open ceiling in the hall. Which begs the question, “When will hallway ceiling tiles be put in place?” I received the answer to that question from LaMont Schiers, director of facilities. “Ceiling tiles for the ground floor will not be installed until this summer when we can complete the rest of the new wiring for floors 2, 3, and 4,” said Schiers. That explains the large spools of wire…

I’ve also been wondering about the plastic hut near the women’s room from which drilling noises can often be heard. “There is some prep-work going on in the lobby in preparation for a new doorway on the main level,” said Schiers. “The plastic is in place to control the dust from the brick and mortar work going on there. This is one of three places between floors one and two that are having additional brick work done before new floor layouts can be completed.”

-Tanya

Victory is ours! For those of us “cellar dwellers” (people who work in the basement of Ball) who have an addiction to chilled caffeinated beverages, B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator, presents to you our easily accessible caffeination station. Located between the men’s and women’s rooms, the machine is prepared to offer you deliciously chilled beverages in exchange for various forms of currency. They don’t have that anywhere else. (Well, actually, they do. But they don’t have our exact machine because clearly, that’s a violation of every known law of physics. Plus, we have B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator. In case you can’t tell, I’m trying to introduce you to B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator.)

– Pete

Last Friday was move-in day and I assisted a student looking for the financial aid office in Ball Hall. I made sure that he did in fact need financial aid and not the bursar before leading him out of the building and around the fenced off construction area to point out the building in which financial aid is housed: Allen Hall. You can’t see Allen from the south end of Ball Hall, but I pointed out the library and told him to go past the library and across the street. I told him that Allen Hall was sandwiched between Jephson Science Center, the Allen House, and Strong Hall. I wasn’t equipped to lead him all the way over there… I’d left my coat back in the office. But, his friend who was accompanying him seemed to know what I was talking about, so I sent them on their way. However, a little part of me worried that he would wind up needing the bursar after all and I’d feel like a real schmuck for sending him on a wild goose chase.

It’s not that the Keuka College campus is large. I’ve been to other college campuses where it becomes necessary to drive between buildings. But, I did feel bad that the young man had to go so far out of his way. I didn’t even know from where he came… maybe he’d already walked down to Ball from Davis. In any event, it will be wonderful when financial aid and admissions join the business office, alumni and family relations, development, and communications in Ball Hall. Then, not having a coat won’t be concern when directing a student to the office in which he or she needs to go.

-Tanya

In case you thought Tanya was lying about the “drunken painter” thing yesterday, here’s some proof. If you want to see more photos of old Ball Hall stuff, click here. I’m going to try to sneak up to the first floor later today and poke around with the camera, so stay tuned.

This entry was posted in February 2007 by one drunken Webmaster. He departed for lunch immediately afterward. (Just kidding! Well, not about lunch. See ya!)

- Pete