By Jocelyn Cano

September 4, 2013

New windows in the Social and Dining Halls are giving students plenty of sunlight and a better view of the quad during their dining experience.

In addition to providing a better atmosphere in those areas, the new windows are saving money for Dominican.  

“I think the windows give us the opportunity to air-condition the space and save us money,” Daniel Bulow, director of Buildings and Grounds said.

According to Bulow, the new windows stop drafts from coming in and air conditioning from escaping.

This allows Physical Plant to air-condition the space without worrying that the money spent on heat and air circulation is slipping through the cracks in the windows.

“I feel like the windows have allowed [the dining hall] to be more sociable,” junior Tanner Strong said. “It’s nice to see the change and it’s also a good way to sit and admire something new at DU.”

Besides the lighting and the windows, the Dining Hall has brand-new white tabletops.

“They were replaced because they were worn-out and beat-up, [and] the new tabletops give the dining hall a clean and fresh look,” Bulow said.

Other renovations on campus include new windows in the Rosary Chapel and the removal of the ivy on the Cloister Walk for tuck-pointing.

Although rumors have been spread that the removal was a permanent change, Bulow has confirmed that the ivy will indeed grow back.

“We cut the ivy above ground to not destroy the roots,” Bulow stated. “It was removed because ivy is invasive and grows into the bricks and destroys the skin of the building.”

“The ivy has always been gorgeous but it’s completely understandable as to why it had to go,” Strong said.  

While all these changes combined may seem extremely time-consuming, they all occurred within the month of August and are being completed this week.

The estimated cost of the changes is around $250,000 a small price to pay considering much of the infrastructures around campus date back to around 80 or 90-years-old.