Hotel gets new additions
with updated technology
By Rachael Conley
Assistant
Campus Editor
Guests at the Union Club Hotel will find themselves
enjoying updated and additional features as the north wing reopens today.
The manager of the hotel, Jerry Day, said that
new electronic locks and voicemail have been added to both the new wing
and the existing part of the hotel.
"We've done a few other things as well; we're putting
in a second telephone line in all of the rooms," Day said.
This was done so people can hook up their laptops,
he said. It's an enhancement to the hotel, allowing people to go online
while still being available over the phone. Day also said all of the
furnishings are new as well.
Mike Warden, the project manager and University
architect, said that the hotel has also been updated in terms of handicap
accessible facilities and has in turn created a facility that can accommodate
all people.
Warden also said the new wing has suites as well
as double and single rooms.
Though phone lines and electronic locks were added,
their addition was not the cause for the construction.
The hotel was built from 1953 to1955 and had become
old and worn out, said Day. The heating and air conditioning equipment
was of an old design and wasn't serving its purpose anymore, he said.
Warden agreed with Day.
"For those who were familiar with the hotel before
the project, it served its purpose but lacked in systems of heating
and air conditioning," Warden said. "The rooms themselves were kind
of dowdy-looking as well."
When the north wing was closed for the construction
after commencement in 2000, more than just the faculty noticed the difference.
The water heaters and water softeners that served the entire hotel were
located in the north wing, so during construction there were short service
interruptions to the rest of the hotel, said Day.
The hotel also ran 92 rooms in Young Graduate House
for the 18 month construction period, he said.
"It was a challenge operating that satellite facility
both for our staff and for our customers," Day said. "But now we're
getting back into a more normal operating mode."
Though there were many operating challenges during
the construction, the cost of the project was kept below the budget.
"The project went well in terms of maintaining
the budget," said Warden. "We have like a few thousand left over. From
that point of view, that's fantastic."
"Now its just a much more interesting hotel," Warden
said.
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