With most students gone over the summer, places across campus received updates, ranging from Eagle’s Nest to the Alton and Lydia Lim Center for Science, Technology and Health.
Changes all around
While the Eagle’s Nest expansions remained one of facilities management’s bigger projects, others included an update of the track and field as well as new security for Wi-Fi networks.
With the expansion that gave more room to indoor and outdoor dining areas, Eagle’s Nest received new wall finishes and vinyl flooring. The outside portion will have additional tables and heaters for use year round as well as a wider access point in the Student Union Building, said Brian Phillips, director of facilities management.
“We also opened up, created an opening between the SUB and the Eagle’s Nest, which I think is nice. The Eagle’s Nest, I think, now feels a little bit more like it’s a part of the SUB. And it’s easier to get to the bathrooms,” Phillips said.
Another portion of the indoor seat plans in Eagle’s Nest includes a community table, said Steve Rall, general manager of food services.
“Basically, food brings people together, break bread and make relationships, get to know people, and that’s kind of the school’s philosophy of the on-campus experience is meeting people,” Rall said.
With the changes in Eagle’s Nest, the Student Government Association’s conference room relocated to the upper level of the SUB that includes a TV for presentations during meetings.
Another food service related project included updates in the Caf at Chef’s Table: a new round grill called the global station and the four separate burners for made-to-order items.
“We want to engage the student more to watch the food being prepared, versus ordering the food then turn their back or walk away … and talk to the chef, and you know ‘I like this way, that way’ and feel comfortable about doing that,” Rall said.
Bon Appétit also added new artwork to brand their look at different locations with their various clients; the black and white design hopes to give a nice, clean look, Rall said. Part of the new look plans to include new higher containers for storing food, which will be added in the following weeks.
In the continuation of the building of the science center, the basement level floor has been poured. On Aug. 29, a 300-ton crane arrived, which will stay for a month, to set large pieces of steel on the building. Webcams have been added to watch the ongoing construction and refresh about every five minutes.
Fresh turf
On other parts of campus, the track and field replacement on top of parking structure R took most of summer to complete and available for students to use. The insertion of the new turf system, called Revolution 360, included resealing the parking structure’s top deck that had leaked since its construction, Phillips said.
As it is a newer-generation turf system, Biola is one of the exclusive clients to experience the turf, Phillips said. In September, CoolPlay will be added to the turf, which will cool down the temperature of the field up to 35 degrees.
For about a month and a half over the summer, information technologies worked to add security upgrades to the Wi-Fi systems, especially for the guest Wi-Fi. A minor change allowed IT to rename the networks to better follow recommended practices in naming wireless systems, including removing spaces, said Scott Himes, director of network operations.
“Biola Guest was an open network, and in the day and age we live in, information security is something that’s very important for us to take seriously and to have measures in place that allow us to manage the use of the network,” Himes said.
