Renovations have begun in the Ignatian Conference Room following severe rain damage last summer. In addition to fixing the issues caused by the rain damage, the renovations are intended to make the room a more comfortable and versatile place.

Renovating the conference room has been something the administration has pondered for years, but the timeline was accelerated after rain damage left the carpet essentially ruined while also damaging the walls and wood paneling. It was decided that instead of simply fixing the damage, they would just fix the entire conference room.

“When the problem happened in June, that kind of opened up a different can of worms of additional things we had to do and that kind of mushroomed into us thinking about what things needed to be replaced,” said Director of Facilities Joe Rankin.

Improvements in the conference room started a couple months ago with the installation of a new HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system to replace the previous one that was over ten years old. Unlike the older system, the new system includes humidity control to remove moisture from the air.

“It was a challenge keeping it dehumidified with the old system that was there, so upgrading to the system we have now is just doing such a better job,” said Director of Maintenance Rick Figge. With everything we’re doing, I think it’s gonna be a great place.”

However, the HVAC system was not the end of it. Plans also include repainting and replastering the walls.

“The paint will be a combination of muted blue and darkish tannish color, very similar to the Currigan Room,” said Rankin.

The carpet will be completely replaced as well.

“I’ll be mimicking the carpet that’s up here (the third floor) and the Currigan Room,” said Rankin. “It’ll be a darker grey in the main foyer area as you first walk in and the carpet in the back will be a lighter grey.”

The administration had to decide the best uses for the room and implement that vision into their renovation plans.

“It was a combination of me working with our IT people like Jonathan Dickmann and thinking it through with (President) Alan Carruthers and then with Rick (Figge) deciding what we can do,” said Rankin.

They eventually decided to replace the large heavy conference tables with lighter, easier to move training tables that would allow for greater flexibility in the room.

“(We think it will be) very much more functional for other people and not only for our own staff but we have a lot of meetings that are going on in this particular area (the Jesuit wing and third floor) with other groups,” said Rankin. “Faculty can use it with students too.”

The room located on the south side of the conference room, which was most recently the former home to the Prep News archives, is also being renovated to be a new office for the Rev Ralph Houlihan, S.J.

While most of the work for these renovations will be done by outside contractors, the maintenance staff will be doing some of the work.

“Plastering is being contracted out, carpeting is being contracted, but we’ll fix the lighting, doors, and windows,” said Figge.

The funds for the renovations will come from a combination of money from the contingency fund and insurance money from the rain damage.

Renovations are expected to be finished by Feb. 5.