Following years of research, planning and construction, Pepperdine renovated the Howard A. White Center, better known as the HAWC, this summer. Major remodeling of the coffee shop and convenience store, a new lounge and expansion of the student activity offices on both floors are complete, with several more finishing touches coming in the next two weeks.
According to Director of Student Activities Doug Hurley, brainstorming for the renovation began almost two years ago when several student affairs offices were shifting around campus to different buildings. Hurley formed a renovation board composed of students and Pepperdine staff to give feedback on the project.
The HAWC’s increasingly run-down condition and cramped space of the Student Activities, Student Government Association, Inter-Club Council and Student Programming Board offices called for an expansion and improvement of the entire building. Hurley sees 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.”
Ben Veenendaal, senior project manager of capital projects at Pepperdine, led the design for the renovation. The major indoor upgrades all stayed within the walls of the original building space. Specifically, the design called 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. The HAWC renovation board even recruited several SGA members to help taste food possibilities in the spring to determine a potential menu. The new HAWC cuisine supposedly includes pizza, chicken wings, nachos and other “sports spectator” snacks and appetizers along with the usual sandwiches, frozen foods and other snacks.
In terms of the interior design, the new HAWC appearance is comparable to the Plaza Classrooms with upgraded carpet and paint. With new lounge furniture in the upper level, the board expects to see increased liveliness in the building.
Construction should be completely finished in the next two weeks.
