Over the summer at Augustana College, the extension of the Hanson building was completed, the Anderson Pavilion had seating installed and student areas were enhanced to enable easier and safer paths. Augustana is looking forward to continuing bettering its campus facilities in the approximate future.

“Everybody in [the Facilities] Department really cares about the students,” said Director of Facilities Services, Robert Lanzerotti. That care translates into the work Facilities puts into campus year-round.

Part of that means maintaining the aesthetic Augustana is known for. This includes the progress of Augustana’s Blue, Gold and Beautiful campaign.

The Blue, Gold and Beautiful campaign is responsible for much of the work done on campus outside of the Hanson Hall of Science and Anderson Pavilion.

Kirk Anderson, Augustana’s Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Administration, said the project is a commitment to “enhance a large portion of the campus when it comes to sidewalks, roadways, stairways and gathering areas.”

Sidewalks and stairwells needed to be widened and re-done to prevent icing and runoff in the winter, and the roadways from 7th Avenue had begun to pose an issue for vehicular traffic through campus.

In addition to infrastructural improvements, the campaign made cosmetic improvements to campus through the installation of new trash cans, ashtrays, landscaping and the yellow and blue Adirondack chairs.

The Adirondack chairs, according to Ashleigh Johnston, “Came out of a request from students that they wanted more outdoor seating” given in a survey sent out to students about interests in potential campus improvements.

The Blue, Gold and Beautiful campaign is one of the reasons for the construction of the stone circle in the lower quad. According to Johnston, “We are revealing the actual name for it over Homecoming weekend, Saturday, Oct. 5 at 11:15 a.m.”

The circle, while acting as a gathering space on campus, was built more for its function than for its aesthetics. Anderson clarified that Augustana was given two options to fix a fire safety problem on campus: pave a road through the quad or have a paved central roundabout for any vehicles coming up from 7th Avenue. They chose the circle.

Several dorm updates were also made over the summer. According to Lanzerotti, “14 to 15 of [Seminary’s] rooms on the third floor got replastered ceilings.”

Lanzerotti also acknowledged other concerns regarding Seminary and alluded to the building’s exterior being worked on sometime soon to prevent moisture coming in through the walls.

“One-third of Andreen’s roof was just replaced this year. Erikson’s got some other issues over there, mostly with the heating and air conditioning. We are gathering information for a possible replacement for that,” Lanzerotti said.

This spring, Facilities will be widening Andreen’s staircase while it works on the construction of two new campus additions.

One of those additions will be the Austin E. Knowlton Center, which will help build Augustana’s kinesiology program. The other will be the Betsey Brodahl Building expansion for the development of Augustana’s first master’s program in Speech Pathology.

Melida Castro contributed to this article