Major renovations made to Donald P. Jacobs Center

by Deborah Leigh Wood

	One of seven newly refurbished classrooms in the Donald P. Jacobs Center.
	The Kafe Grill is a shiny new addition to the dining facilities in the Jacobs Center, and offers a variety of fresh menu items.

When Kellogg School students began class this fall, they saw the results of an extensive $3 million renovation of the Donald P. Jacobs Center. Over the summer, workers upgraded classrooms, technology and food service facilities, eliciting praise from returning students.

Seven classrooms were refurbished. They now boast wood paneling or acoustic fabric panels, as well as new seating and easy-to-use touch-pad audiovisual technology. There are also electric outlets at each student space to plug in laptops. Electronically controlled shades, which replaced blinds, darken the classroom for visual presentations in rooms with windows. In the summer of 2003, the building’s remaining six classrooms underwent renovation.

A number of the upgrades involved input from the Kellogg Student Association, says Assistant Dean Carole Cahill. Room 102, formerly an unused classroom, is now a study lounge with tables and chairs to accommodate 70 to 80 students. Its ambience strikes a balance between a traditional study room and a social lounge.

The computer lab has been relocated from behind the Joseph and Carole Levy Atrium to the group study room wing on the second floor. The mailroom and copy room have been moved down the hall to make way for the expanded Café Kellogg.

The Levy Atrium has been expanded to accommodate an additional 80 to 90 people. The new Kafe Grill offers diners fresh fish daily, as well as fresh bread, burgers, paninis, grilled chicken sandwiches and sushi made on the premises. A new coffee bar beckons with a gourmet beverage menu, sweets and yogurt parfaits, among other offerings. A smaller, separate room off the atrium lends itself to more intimate dining.

Cahill says the main lobby and atrium, and possibly other common areas, are scheduled for renovation in the summer of 2005.