Lange Hall Renovated for New School Year

(ABILENE, Texas) HSU Facilities and Residence Life teams have been working hard this spring and summer to renovate Blanche Lange Hall. The refurbished residence hall is now completed, just in time for second year women to move in.

Lange Hall room with stacked beds

Welcoming Spaces

The crew stripped Lange down to the flooring, replacing it with luxury vinyl tile. The rooms now have fresh paint and trim and new windows and blinds. Extra-long twin beds can be moved, raised, and stacked, giving upper-class women more options to customize their space. The new matching desks are also moveable.

Built in 1954, Lange had been experiencing HVAC problems and other difficulties. The updates gave the residence hall a new air conditioning and filtration system, giving residents more control over the temperature in their rooms.

New Lange lobby furniture

Even the lobby areas were redone with new furniture and windows. The ice machine was moved from the basement to the first floor to give students easier access, and laundry facilities were added to the residence director apartment. Over Christmas break, the crew will replumb drains and showers, update the electrical system, and add new stair treads.

University Impact

Francis Edwards, Director of Residence Life, says that Lange was updated first because it was one of the smaller residence hall projects. “Lange was chosen because of its impact on students and because it was the most cost effective choice. It was a good starting point to begin updating the living spaces.”

Lange closet space

Edwards says that updating Lange should help with university recruitment and retention. “A big part of recruiting students is showing them where they will live,” he said. “This will also help with retention because now first year women living in Anderson will look forward to living in Lange the next year. Having the security of a space that is supervised and maintained results in a better atmosphere for our students and betters the student experience.”

Edwards explained the broken window theory, which states that visible signs of damage contribute to an overall atmosphere of dilapidation, but continually addressing minor problems helps keep spaces well-maintained.

The Lange renovations are the first of many planned for the HSU campus. While the budget for the Lange construction came from Hardin-Simmons’ savings, updates for the other dorms will rely on finances from giving campaigns.