Four months and more than $40,000 later, the doors to a newly renovated basement floor in Boyd Hall remain locked — for all but 1.5 hours each day.
The basement, now called “The West Nest,” was a $43,463 project aimed to serve as a hang out hot spot for Boyd residents. The Nest houses a flat-screen TV, furniture and a pool table and is open during the residence hall’s staff’s office hours, 8:30 to 10 p.m.
Not only do some students believe this is an inefficiently small window; they are saying the basement occasionally remains locked during the allotted hours.
“They advertise it as open and (that we are) able to use it, but it is never unlocked,” said Dylan Lewis, a freshman studying chemistry and pre-med.
Lewis said he and his friends were playing pool during staff office hours one evening and a university employee took the pool cues and told the group they had to leave because “they were going to bed.”
“Any other time I’ve tried to go there, it’s been locked,” Lewis said.
Currently there has been no discussion by Residential Housing to extend the hours of operation for West Nest.
“We are open to suggestions. If the residents of Boyd don’t like this particular policy, the Boyd Hall staff or hall council could consider other options,” said Mac Stricklen, assistant director for the Department of Residential Housing’s West Green office.
“If there is a way to overcome potential obstacles, we are open to keeping it unlocked more frequently,” Stricklen said.
For Stricklen, these obstacles include the opportunity for vandalism and “bigger messes” — both of which he views as potential hazards as the West Nest isn’t a high traffic area.
“The major reason it isn’t open all the time is because we don’t have any way to monitor it,” said Joshua Offenberger, a resident assistant at Boyd.
Residential Housing has not considered additional staff to monitor the area, Stricklen said.
In addition to Boyd Hall residents, the Nest is open to registered student organizations that reserve the space during its hours of operation, Stricklen added.
“The reality for that is that we don’t want to encourage a lot more outside groups to reserve it,” he said. “This takes away the potential use for Boyd residents.”
bc822010@ohiou.edu
