Harnwell College House will undergo renovations this summer as part of the last phase of an $80 million, six-year plan to renovate all three high rises.
The Harnwell renovations will be similar to those that took place in Hamilton and Harrison College Houses and will consist of widespread work to student rooms, including the addition of new windows, fan coil units and furniture.
University Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino described the changes as a "dramatic difference" that will be more than just cosmetic.
The renovations will also be focused on the first two floors of Harnwell, where old office space will be converted into student rooms.
The lobby arrangement will be similar to that of Harrison, where the information desk sits close to the front entryway.
Plans for the first two floors also include fixing up the dance studio and creating new common areas.
Most of the $26.5 million construction project will take place during the summer, though some of the work -- the incorporation of new sprinklers throughout the building, and a coat of yellow on the facade -- has already occurred.
No work will be done on the building's plumbing or the bathrooms in individual apartments.
"There was not enough funding to do everything," Reazor said. The resulting decisions were "just a matter of funding and priority."
Although both Hamilton and Harrison now have elevated, renovated terrace space, Harnwell will not undergo such changes.
"We're really not going to do much in the rear of Harnwell," Facilities Services Design and Construction Director Darrin Reazor said.
Reazor noted that the construction should be finished in time for the September student move-in, except for landscaping work, which is traditionally done in the fall.
"Harnwell will be vacated this summer," Harnwell House Faculty Master David Brownlee said in an e-mail.
"No summer programs will be housed here, and all faculty and [graduate associate] staff [who normally stay through the summer] will be relocated."
The original planning for renovations to the three high rise dormitories took place in 1999, when students and faculty offered input on overall decisions about architectural and landscape design, Brownlee said.
Harnwell's individual committee had the opportunity to make decisions for the house itself, selecting fabrics and wall colors.
Brownlee said input from the previous construction has helped the process for Harnwell.
"We have looked at the designs for Hamilton and Harrison and refined a number of details," Brownlee said.
Brownlee added that the committee is "working to make the buildings look a bit different and to accommodate some functions that are unique to Harnwell."
The order of high rise construction -- Hamilton underwent the first construction in the summer of 2003 -- was created due to other construction projects in University City.
The Free Library at 40th and Walnut streets was also undergoing renovations when planning for the high rise construction was under way, and the committee sought to "coordinate with the library [to] minimize construction" around Hamilton Village, Reazor said.
Renovations to the bathrooms and kitchens of Harnwell's student rooms, as well as mechanical and plumbing work, will not be a part of the summer construction project.
Brownlee expects the renovations to have a positive impact on the popularity of Harnwell House.
"Our experience has been that the renovated buildings are much more popular with residents and staff," Brownlee said.
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