After more than 18 months of research and planning Pepperdine will be renovating the Howard A. White Center better known as the HAWC this summer. While some of the renovation details remain unknown the administration has definite plans to expand the coffee shop and convenience store build a TV lounge and expand the student activity offices on both floors.
Jarrett Fisher assistant director of student affairs announced the renovation approval to the Student Government Association (SGA) at this week’s meeting describing it as a “much needed facelift” to the HAWC.
“The project has taken this long because we had to make sure to do it right Fisher said.
According to Director of Student Activities Doug Hurley, brainstorming for the HAWC building renovation began almost two years ago when several student affairs offices were shifting around campus to different buildings.
Along with student comments about the run-down condition of the HAWC, the compactness of the Student Activities, SGA, Inter-Club Council and Student Programming Board offices in the HAWC called for an expansion and improvement of the entire building. Hurley foresees the renovation as benefitting staff and student alike.
As a board we helped the administration know what’s cool to the students Hurley said. We think the renovation will add a vibrancy to the HAWC and make it more of a destination than it is now.”
To determine the exact plans for invigorating the HAWC team members like Hurley investigated similar student gathering buildings on other college campuses in the southern California area. However something like the elaborate three-story student recreation complex at UC Santa Barbara seemed a bit lofty for the Pepperdine campus.
Ben Veenendaal senior project manager of capital projects at Pepperdine is leading the design for the renovation. The designs plan on several developments that will remain within the same outer shell of the HAWC building. Specifically the design calls for an expansion of the current coffee house and an addition to the small convenience store making it more comparable to the size of Nature’s Edge.
But the HAWC won’t be offering tofu seaweed crackers or organic juices. In fact the HAWC renovation board recruited several SGA members to help taste food possibilities this week to determine a potential menu. Ideas for the new HAWC cuisine include chicken wings nachos and other “sports spectator” snacks and appetizers.
In terms of the interior design Fisher compared the future HAWC appearance to the plaza classrooms with nicer carpet and paint. With new flat-screen TVs and a lounge in the upper level the board expects to see increased liveliness in the building.
“It will be a much more active space Fisher said. The HAWC will be very student-friendly inviting them to just come and hang out.”
Construction should be executed and completed this summer.