University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 18, Feb. 6, 1997
Perkins Student Center will reopen next week

     The newly renovated Perkins Student Center, which is
scheduled to open at the beginning of the spring semester, is
airy and welcoming.
     The removal of several administrative offices on the main
floor has made space for a student lounge in the concourse area
off the University Bookstore.
     A wide stairway leads down to the Hen Zone, with a bright,
neon sign pointing the way to an updated, dressed-up lower level.
     "The concourse has had major structural changes," Marilyn
Prime, student centers, said. "We've been able to open it up for
traffic and still allow space for some vendors or student groups
to set up from time to time.
     "The lower level really looks and feels like a part of the
Student Center now," she added.
     The Scrounge, which did not have a definite operating
schedule at press time, remains largely the same in appearance,
but two, large murals have been removed and the center court is
gone.
     The student center also has new, larger restrooms installed
between the Scrounge and the north-south corridor outside the
Rodney Room and Ewing Rooms. The former restrooms have been
renovated for storage areas.
     An updated entrance also has been installed at the south
side of the building facing the parking lot. The hallway leading
from the lot has been widened and, to the right, next to the
Rodney Room, a pantry has been installed so Dining Services has a
place to store hot food when catering a meal. Previously, food
trays rested on carts in the hallways.
     The pantry renovation means decreased space in the Ewing
Room, although it remains the second largest meeting space in the
building. The three first floor meeting rooms-Rodney, Ewing and
Collins-all have been enhanced with new ceilings, windows, paint,
carpet and window treatments, as part of the renovation project.
The Williams, Read and Wilson meeting rooms remain unchanged.
     On the lower level, new ceiling, carpet and paint are in
place in the Hen Zone and major work continues in the Bacchus
Theatre.
     On the second floor, fresh paint, new windows, window
treatments and ceiling tiles have been installed in meeting
rooms, halls and the offices of several student organizations.
     Two rooms, which formerly housed SLTV have been enlarged
again now that SLTV has moved to 401 Academy St. On the third
floor, a student lounge is in the area formerly occupied by the
Delaware Undergraduate Student Congress (DUSC), the student
government. DUSC offices are now in the Trabant University
Center.
     "It is our hope that with groups such as the Cosmopolitan
Club, Hola and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Student Union (LGBSU)
housed here, there will be a supportive atmosphere where the
groups will mingle in the lounge and interact. Eventually, we
would like to see these, and other groups, cosponsor programs,"
Prime said.
     Student groups are slated to move into the building by the
end of February. In the meantime, offices for The Review have
been upgraded, and an elevator has been installed for access to
The Review and WVUD, the campus FM radio station.
     The renovated Perkins is "very much a student-oriented
building. It's an exciting time," Prime said. "It's a good place
to be."
                                            -Beth Thomas