Townhouse Village Remodel Headlines Summer Campus Improvements

Those who’ve lived in Rockhurst University’s Town House Village might be surprised by how different they look come August.

This summer, the 42 units are getting a makeover from both a cosmetic and functional standpoint. Matt Heinrich, Rockhurst University associate vice president for facilities and technology, said crews moved in almost immediately after the end of the spring semester to begin renovating the spaces, designed as a suite-style living community on campus that first opened in 1994.

“Over the years, we had made a lot of upgrades to the units — new air conditioning units, water heaters, roofs — but this work will be focused more on how things look inside,” he said. “It will pretty much be a total remodel inside.”

When finished, the units will feature new flooring, furnishings, and a redesigned kitchenette with a more open feel and a scaled-down approach that better reflects the on-the-go habits of a typical THV resident.

“We did talk to the students about it, and there were interviews about what was important and what wasn’t to have in there,” he said.

Along with the individual units, which will also be getting exterior upgrades like landscaping and painting, Heinrich said the village’s community center will be changing to make the space more flexible and usable. All told, he said these changes will be substantive.

“The basic floorplan is the same, but I think a student walking in and seeing the new furnishings and everything will notice a big difference,” Heinrich said.

The work at THV might be the biggest project for the summer, but Heinrich said it’s far from the only one. Heinrich said other smaller physical improvements are taking place outside and inside in facilities across campus. Among them are new sidewalks in front of Massman Hall and other improvements outside Massman and Van Ackeren halls, electrical work at the Greenlease Gallery, and finishing touches on the new press box at Loyola Park baseball field.

Also included are a number of technological upgrades — Heinrich said the auditorium in Arrupe will be getting a new video capture system, utilizing the same technology used in the Helzberg School of Management to facilitate distance learning. Two additional classrooms in Conway Hall, home of the Helzberg School, will be outfitted with the same technology, in part to accommodate an increase in students learning from home in the newly created online Master of Science in Business Intelligence and Analytics degree. Heinrich said technical support has also been extended to 24 hours a day as part of the expansion of online education.