The Campaign to Save Ball Hall

Meet Jen Shoemaker ‘08, an organizational communication major from Apalachin, NY. Those of you who were at reunion this summer may remember her; she was driving folks around in golf carts (and also owning the dance floor with a few of our more rhythmically talented alumni).

Many of you have asked what the new dorm rooms in Ball look like, and Jen was kind enough to put her room in the spotlight for us.

See more photos here.

And now for an interview with Jen, our wonderful hostess:

Jen, your room seems so clean; do you actually live in it? Is this typical of college students in the 21st century?

Well, yeah I live in it. I’m just very organized, I like it clean … a clean room is a happy room, you know. I would say it’s definitely not typical of other students.

How many other people do you share your room with? Is the new space cramped at all?

I share it with two of my friends, and our room is pretty well spaced out, I’d say. The new closet space is really nice. When I lived in Ball before, it was dirty–which drove me nuts–the furniture didn’t match, and each room was a completely different size. Some people were in a room that was literally the size of a closet; I was lucky to be in a room that was the size of the alumni lounge … it didn’t make much sense or seem fair. The new rooms are a breath of fresh air.

There’s still some construction going on around Ball. How much of that do you hear in your room?

They’re still working on landscaping outside and laying down the new sidewalks, so there’s a lot of noise — especially when they’re breaking the sidewalks up. As far as the noise in the morning, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be — we can at least sleep until 6:30 or 7, ha-ha.

Anything else you’d like to share with the world? This is going on the Internet, you know. The world may be reading … but hey, no pressure.

I definitely feel lucky to live in Ball Hall, especially during the construction while history is being made. In the summer, it’s really great because of the air conditioning; it’s been nice and warm in there this fall, too. The heaters are brand new, so they work.

Okay, last question: Halloween was a few days ago. Any run-ins with George?

I haven’t had any run-ins with the alleged Ball Hall ghost, but my dad has. He was alone in the elevator and heard a male voice say “go for it” three times. To this day, he still won’t go in the elevator.

That’s how one student described the transformation of the student rooms in Ball. I recently had the opportunity to take a tour of the second, third and fourth floors with the building’s resident director, Mike Gentile. I got to see a double room and quadruple room — both had plenty of room to roam. The former hardwood floors are carpeted, so that saves students from having to buy area rugs (unless, of course, they want to). The residents I spoke with are most happy, as was I, with the central air conditioning (this has been a pretty warm September here in Keuka Park); the only other residence hall with central air is Harrington. The doors on the rooms were also changed; metal ones replace the old wooden ones. “It’s a better feeling of security,” said Gentile. “They swing close automatically.” If you lived in Ball Hall pre-renovation, you had to do your laundry in the basement. Now, there are laundry facilities on every floor — two washers and four dryers, as a matter of fact. The lounge areas feature flat-screen televisions mounted to the walls and the kitchenettes are both practical and pretty. The building is also better handicap accessible, something about which Gentile is glad: “The doors are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and there is a handicap-accessible shower in each bathroom.”

-Tanya

Unfortunately, I didn’t capture it on camera, but it was quite a sight here last week when the new beds, dressers, desks and wardrobes arrived  for the student residences in Ball Hall. There were metal frames stacked by the dozens and covered in shrink-wrap resembling a virtual maze outside of the door. At Community Day on Monday, General Manager of Facilities LaMont Schiers informed the faculty and staff that more than 2,000 pieces were distributed and set up in their respective rooms. Considering there’s only one elevator in the building, that must have amounted to a lot of manpower! I’m so happy for the students living in Ball who get to enjoy brand new furniture in their refurbished rooms. How nice it must be to know that you are the first student to sleep on that mattress… now that’s peace of mind.

-Tanya

Summer hasn’t officially started yet, but already we’ve had some beautiful, warm weather in Keuka Park. And warm is good, if you ask me. But, when you’re cooped up in a building that is being renovated and therefore are not able to open windows because brick work is being done on the exterior, it helps to have air conditioning. Ball Hall now has central air! When the renovation was going on last summer, the window air conditioning units had to be removed and the windows had to remain shut. I will confess that at times the air is a bit too cold for me, but faced with the alternative of no cool breezes at all, I’d opt for the air conditioning any day.

-Tanya

In Pat’s March 16 “Ball Hall Memories” post, she talks about drying clothes on a rack next to the sink in the bedroom area of her third floor, Ball Hall room. “When we left that year there was a big mess under the tray we used to catch the drippings,” says Pat. “Oops!”

Pat’s post got me reflecting on the old Ball Hall and how, because it was old, we accepted its flaws and imperfections as part and parcel. I know for us down here in our permanent new space, we’ve spent a lot more time thinking about how we want to decorate than we ever did upstairs, in our old space. Basically, whatever “artwork” covered up the walls in our old space would suffice. Down here, however, we are focused on the place looking neat, tidy, and professional. Upstairs, things got kind of sloppy and I think that’s because the walls, floors, and ceilings surrounding our stuff was less than appealing. I mean, walls can only be painted so many times and that shag carpet had certainly seen better days — but there weren’t enough funds available to replace it. And, we didn’t have storage upstairs; so, extra Keuka magazines would often spill into our waiting area. Down here we have a storage closet and it is certainly being utilized. We’re really taking pride in our new space, and that’s how it should be. I hope that the students are taking the same kind of pride and care in their new rooms.

-Tanya

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

The last “ghost” stories I’d heard about Ball Hall were old ones, dating back some 20 years or so. Once, our office used them as a basis for a fun, lighthearted article in a Halloween edition of KC Currents, our online publication. Another time, we published them in an issue of Keuka magazine. I hadn’t heard any recent, first-person accounts until work began on the winter 2007 issue of the magazine. That’s when I received two firsthand accounts that I found quite convincing.

In passing, one of the contractors working on the building mentioned some “unusual activity” he’d experienced. Being an avid watcher of the Sci-Fi Channel’s Ghost Hunters, I had to learn more. I won’t spoil it here, but I will say that I am much more aware of my surroundings here in Ball. In fact, I went to use the restroom shortly after interviewing the man, and had an experience that I might have chalked up as a visit by George Harvey Ball. I was all alone in bathroom, standing at the sink washing my hands when I heard something that sounded a lot like someone whispering, “psst.” Turns out the new facilities have some kind of automatic deodorizer that sprayed from the wall next to me. If an explanation were only that simple in the second story.

A Class of 1983 alumna tells me that George visited her room. Her encounter with the ghost involved sight as well as smell (apparently George liked cigars). Read her account of the visit in the campaign section of the upcoming magazine. If you have a Ball Hall ghost story of your own to relate, you can do so by clicking on “Ball Hall Memories.”

-Tanya