It may only be a matter of months before Mudd-Blaisdell gets a makeover.

As early as December, when students leave for the winter holiday, construction crews could start on the first phase of the $5.5 million renovation project designed to give the dormitory a complete renovation.

Andrew Jennings Mudd-Blaisdell is going to receive a $5.5 million makeover.

The renovation project will likely include improvements to both the exterior and interior of Mudd-Blaisdell. "Our goal is to give [Mudd-Blaisdell] a complete renovation, both aesthetically and physically, because it is the dorm with the greatest need for improvement at this point," Dean of Campus Life Matt Taylor said.

If construction starts in December, it will temporally stop once students return. Then, at the end of the school year, construction will resume, with the ultimate goal of having the dorm ready for students’ return in the fall. In the case that plans aren’t finalized by winter, all construction will be done during the summer. Director of Campus Planning and Maintenance John Giboney assures that no construction will happen while school is in session.

Taylor is involved with an architect, a contractor and members of Pomona’s maintenance and housekeeping departments on the committee responsible for making the budget proposal for renovations to Mudd-Blaisdell. The committee is responsible for bringing a budget proposal to school for the renovation with its final deadline being in March of 2000. "We are still quite a ways away from getting this thing finished," Taylor said. "Right now we are looking for student input to see what they want. Then we will make our final budget proposal to the school for the things that we think are most necessary."

Taylor organized a student meeting this past Tuesday to get students’ views on potential areas of improvement for Mudd-Blaisdell. About 20 students participated in the session. Taylor and the students discussed many aspects of the dorm, including the rooms, study lounges, bathrooms, utilities and the possibility of adding more card readers, creating new entrances to both sides of the building. The general consensus was that the students want several things changed, but at the same time they want to preserve the current atmosphere of the dorm.

Erik Jensen ’03 says he is happy living in the dorm, although he does see an obvious need for improvements in the near future. "There is really nowhere to study here except in our rooms or in the hallways," Jensen said. "We do have two lounges but it’s impossible to get anything done there because one has the TV/VCR and ping pong table, and the other has the piano which people are always pounding away at."

Jensen also said that he noticed that several of his friends in the dorm often complain about a lack of hot water in the bathrooms. "The bathrooms are pretty ghetto overall," Jensen said. "Mine has all sorts of pipes that have busted out through the walls."

According to Taylor, although the committee’s proposal has yet to be finalized, it has several projects that it considers to be almost certain. These include a central cooling tower that will provide air conditioning to the entire dorm, the opening of more lounges on both the Mudd and Blaisdell sides, with an emphasis being placed on providing residents with quiet places to study, increased lighting throughout the building through the installation of more lights and windows, improvement of the plumbing system, and interior remodeling of the rooms with new paint jobs and possibly carpeting.

Both Taylor and Giboney are almost certain that the proposal will not be able to cover increasing room size. Although the students at the meeting expressed displeasure over the size of double rooms, Taylor said that it would be too much work to increase room size. However, he did tell students that he will make a strong push to install space-saving units in the rooms.

Mudd-Blaisdell was last given a full-renovation in 1982 and a partial renovation less than five years ago, but it was determined to be the dorm most in need of renovations partially due to its condition and its large population. The last dorms to benefit from renovations were Lyon and Walker.

Because of the multi-million dollar expenses the renovations entail, Taylor said that the school plans years in advance to have sufficient money available. Thus, the school has to allot a percentage of its yearly budget for dorm renovations.

"We are trying to keep everyone’s needs and wants in mind when we make our final budget proposal," Taylor said. "Hopefully, we will be able to come up with a proposal that will satisfy that and still be within the budget."