After being closed for more than a year for renovations, the Tatem Arts building opened for spring semester classes.
Students now have a new moot courtroom, archaeology lab, 16-computer Mac lab and studios for senior art students on the ground floor of the academic building. The renovations also included upgrading classrooms and the other art studios.
The grand opening was Feb. 5, 2016, where the Hood community observed the improved building. Students’ opinions to the changes were mostly positive.
“It is a much-needed facelift,” senior Mary Horabik said. She is glad to have two courses in the “fresher” building for her final semester.
Each building has its own identity, senior Meg Locey said. Rosenstock is more eclectic in the subjects taught in it, but they feel more comfortable back in Tatem, Locey said.
An art and archaeology major, Horabik felt “out of place” when her classes were moved to Hodson during the renovations, she said.
“It is our building, and they took it away from us,” Locey said. She is also glad to be back for her final semester, she said.
Both added it did not matter what the new interior of Tatem was. Horabik and Locey were just glad to return to the building they have spent so much time in since starting at Hood; they had not even noticed much of what it looks like now.
Horabik said she is most excited about the new archaeology lab. The room is not yet complete, but is usable.
The other large new addition is the moot courtroom on the second floor.
To have the room is a good educational experience, but it was built incorrectly, senior Allen Paxton, Law and criminal justice major, said. Criminal justice professors Janis Judson and Teresa Bean submitted a design for the room, but their dimensions were not executed during construction, he said.
The jury bench is too long, the height of the judge’s bench is wrong and the podium does not swivel, according to Paxton. There is work to make corrections, he said.
“It will be used for all sorts of trial advocacy and [students] learning how to be analytical thinkers,” Paxton said.
Before, the students used Hodson Auditorium for appeals court and jury trials. Now, they can experience them in a more real courtroom setting.
As a tour guide, Paxton said he sees more students who are interested in the Criminal Justice program here. With the courtroom, Hood can have a competitive Mock Trial team, he added.
While he will not be around to use the new space, Paxton believes the moot courtroom will be a beneficial addition to the program once it is finished.
One completed space in Tatem is the senior studio in the basement. Those working on large-scale projects in preparation for their exhibitions at the end of the year have their own area to keep all their work in cubicle-like units around the room. The layout of the studio is open for students to observe each other’s work, while working in a comfortable space.
The other studios are for everyone. Students in the arts classes have access to them 24/7, and there are open studio days for the Frederick community, according to Gary Cuddington, assistant professor of art.
With the large changes of the studios, courtroom and archeology labs, the renovations to some of the classrooms are underwhelming. The main difference between the rooms are the desks; some have new round, swivel desks and others have new, but basic square desks. The plain ones do not seem to be much better than of what were there before, Locey said.
The building is still a work in progress, as there is more construction to finish on the third floor as well.
The plan is for Tatem to be fully functional by next semester.
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