Umrath Hall
Umrath Hall, which is located adjacent to the Mallinckrodt Center, usually houses the Campus Y, the undergraduate deans, and the Undergraduate Research Office. It will be under renovation for most of the 2011-2012 school year.
According to Art Ackermann, associate vice chancellor for Facilities Planning & Management, Umrath was originally built as a dormitory. The university is renovating it to make the rooms more suitable to serve as office space and classrooms.
The renovations to Umrath have been especially complex because the roof had to be removed to reconstruct the building in a more stable way.
According to Ackermann, most of the heavy demolition was completed over the summer, so the project is mostly contained.
The offices usually housed in Umrath have been moved to other buildings on campus.
The renovations to Umrath Hall will not be finished until the end of the school year and move-in to the building is currently scheduled to take place after graduation.

Green Hall
Despite a delay on stonework that was caused by a mason’s strike this summer, Green Hall will be completed in time for its dedication on Sept. 23.
Although the exterior of the new building will not be complete for another two to three weeks, move-in started this week.
Green Hall, which is the newest addition to campus, is located on the northeast corner of campus. It will provide space for the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering and house the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES).

Cupples II
The University completed construction on Cupples II this summer. The building now features a completely renovated interior and will house the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Research.
According to Ackermann, the original space, which was about 100 years old, was not well suited to classroom space.
“We tried to make the building as functional for modern education as possible, given the fact that it is a hundred-year-old building,” said Ackermann.
The third floor of Cupples II now has a wide hallway with natural light and strip lighting that will allow students to showcase posters or art.

Mallinckrodt
Due to renovations, the Mallinckrodt Center now has a new entrance. It also boasts new Subway and Bank of America locations. The newly renovated Campus bookstore is still located on the building’s ground floor, and three classrooms are now on the second floor.
“I’m particularly excited to see how people will receive Mallinckrodt because it’s pretty interesting, the changes there,” Ackermann said. “We’re anxious always to get some feedback on what we did.”
Ackermann says he hopes that students will take the time to check out the completed renovations.
Louderman 458 also received a complete makeover.

Several student groups still use Mallinckrodt for varying reasons despite the dominance of the Danforth University Center (DUC).

For example, students in Carnaval rely on Mallinckrodt because the show takes place in the Edison Theatre located there. The lower level of Mallinckrodt, including the former food court area and the Gargoyle, is also still used for rehearsals and as an area for performers to wait before going on stage.

Senior Nadia Abouzaid, co-chair for Carnaval, worries that renovating Mallinckrodt could render the meeting spaces inaccessible for performing groups. The old food court area is very useful now that the University made changes to it, according to Abouzaid.

“Once [the University] renovated it, it became a really prime space on campus to use for practice,” Abouzaid said.

Other performances, including Diwali, Lunar New Year Festival and Black Anthology rely on Mallinckrodt for similar reasons.
Abouzaid also noted that the DUC lacks any large spaces to practice.

“I feel like the University did a really poor job of planning when they built the DUC, because [there was] news that they wanted to tear down Mallinckrodt or renovate it, but they didn’t provide any alternate large practice spaces for students to use,” Abouzaid said.

Abouzaid is concerned that the University will close Mallinckrodt so that it can  do the planned renovations, leaving Carnaval performers with no place to practice.

“I have no idea what [Carnaval] isgoing to do if Mallinckrodt’s not open to them,” Abouzaid said. “I was really nervous about where our dancers were going to practice, but thankfully they didn’t do that.”

While performers may use the building frequently, most students go there much less often.

“I feel like Mallinckrodt as a building has become less central, because when the food court was situated in that building, I think it was really the center of campus life, and now it’s not as much. But for me, our dance groups definitely utilize those spaces for practice,” Abouzaid said.

With a maximum capacity of 499 as determined by the fire code, the Gargoyle is almost unmatched on campus in its ability to host events with large audiences like concerts.

Mallinckrodt also continues to draw students to the building’s many businesses, including FedEx Office, the Danforth Campus Bookstore and Bank of America.

“To me, [the Mallinckrodt Center is] basically where the campus store is and Bank of America is. Those are the only things I routinely use Mallinckrodt for,” sophomore Ben Ingell said. “The DUC doesn’t really replace it, all it seems to add to me is a new place to eat.”

Ingell also said that he rarely uses the DUC for anything other than the food areas and that he still goes to Mallinckrodt because he uses the businesses located there.

The University had planned to renovate the Mallinckrodt Center and provide additional space to the businesses that will remain there, but the plan was put on hold in response to the recent drop in the school’s endowment.

The renovation would have cost the University $20 million.

The University has not indicated when new construction projects will resume.

Covered throughout the school year in glow sticks, wreaths and other decorations, the Bunny is one of the most recognizable aspects of campus. Programs, student groups and trips off campus all use the Bunny as a meeting spot everyone will recognize. But the Wash. U. icon, referred to by some as the Donnie Darko bunny, joins its fellow bunnies as a set of sculptures by the famous British sculptor Barry Flanagan. Some of the other bunnies even dance and play instruments.

Beginning in 1979, Barry Flanagan began casting his bronze hares. While one jumps over a pyramid, another happily bangs its left-handed drum. A third sits sadly with a guitar at its side. Be particularly careful of the boxing hare atop his anvil. Yes, the bunnies do more than merely sit on a rock.

As a “Thinker on a Rock,” the Wash. U. Bunny appears less active than some of his other bunny playmates—except of course for the “Thinker on a Large Computer.” Even with all of that thinking, somehow he and the other hares sure know how to travel. Hopping around the globe, these hares have been displayed as brilliant works of art everywhere from Grant Park in Chicago and Union Park in New York all the way to London. The “Thinker” himself made a visit to the Netherlands in 2005.

But wait. If the Bunny were here at the University, how could he be in the Netherlands? Apparently, there are multiple thinkers. While one pensive bunny resides here on Hilltop Campus, a second is thinking in the National Gallery of Art at another Washington, in D.C.

As you walk past the Bunny on your way to class, take time to stop and appreciate the creepy statue, which casts its long eared shadow on us all. While some of Flanagan’s bronze hares are getting admired as works of a master artist, Wash. U.’s Bunny will be going through his yearly wardrobe change. Students will meet at its base before they go to lunch. And the student body will continue to remark on just how odd the Donnie Darko bunny really is when it’s sitting on your campus.

However, with a loading dock, kitchen facilities, an expanding bookstore and the Edison Theatre, Mallinckrodt will remain as it is for the foreseeable future.
Several Washington University administrators plan to meet within the next few months to construct a long-term plan for the campus center.

The Danforth University Center (DUC), complete with a diner, café, bistro and cafeteria-style food, will take over as the main on-campus dining option.
The DUC also houses the offices of several student groups, the Career Center, the Graduate Center and Student Union.
Aside from Hilltop Bakery, which will remain on the first floor for pre-made sandwiches and pastries, Mallinckrodt will no longer offer lunch.
Steve Rackers, the manager of capital projects markets for the University, says that while no formal decisions have been made, the open space in Mallinckrodt could be used to expand the bookstore.

“We want to maintain the viability of the bookstore,” Rackers said, adding that with less daily foot traffic, the bookstore will need to become more visible to people who pass by. “There is a desire to keep pedestrians coming to the building.”

At present, the University has no formal timetable for a redevelopment of Mallinckrodt, Rackers said, because most resources are focused on a smooth beginning to the school year.
“As always, when something new opens up, there is a desire to wait for people to settle in,” Rackers said.

He anticipates that the basement in Mallinckrodt may be needed for temporary overflow seating, as the DUC will likely not be able to accommodate the rush of customers in the onset of the academic year. Rackers predicts that the crowds at the DUC will subside as the novelty of the location wears off.
While the space may be vacant now, students saw the need for a change last year.

“I think the space was depressing and somber,” sophomore Jaspur Min said, referring to the condition of the basement cafeteria as it was last year. “If they created a nice atmosphere—brighter and more welcoming—for reading and hanging out, I think it would be a great place to meet up with your friends and relax in the middle of the day.”

As is customary with most on-campus space considerations, students will be given the chance to offer their own ideas to the University before any final decisions are made regarding the open area, Rackers said.
Rackers added that a major redevelopment project, which would involve a restructuring of the bookstore and the possible addition of several offices to the building, was put on hold for the start of the school year.

Currently, the Mallinckrodt kitchen is being utilized for food preparation for the University Center.

Senior David Yanofsky thinks the space provides room for the return of an on-campus favorite of students—a bar.
“That space could best be used as a bar, as a replacement to the old Rathskeller,” Yanofsky said, referring to the old on-campus pub that once sat in the basement of Umrath Hall. “I would also be open to the idea of putting retailers like J. Crew down there.”