Harbor Hall and Davis Hall’s renovations have concluded, welcoming students to an upgraded educational environment.
Courtesy of Christina Ferrante
By Sofia Garcia Vargas
Harbor Hall and Davis Hall have a new, modern look after a lengthy renovation process.
Both buildings, which house the College of Arts and Sciences and the graphic arts program respectively, are ready to welcome students this semester after a complete interior remodel.
Harbor Hall renovations began in 2018 when local art enthusiast Josephine Hall donated part of her estate to USF St. Petersburg. The $2 million was evenly divided between the graphics arts program and the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
With the goal of creating an engaging and creative area for students, Harbor Hall now offers a 17-station computer lab, broad gallery space, magnetic walls meant for display and evaluation and new flooring and lighting.
“Through this generous gift from Josephine Hall, we created a space that supports our mission of being a high-quality program that sends top -notch graphic designers out into the world to do amazing things,” said Jennifer Yucus, campus associate director of the School of Arts and History.
Future plans for Harbor Hall include housing courses with a concentration in 2D and 3D animation.
The initial phase of Davis Hall’s restorations were to be completed by July 2020. However, due to COVID-19, the construction was delayed and completed earlier this year.
The redesigned second floor of Davis Hall – the second phase of the renovation – was completed this summer.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Magali Michael told The Crow’s Nest that “the focus was on creating a home space for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) that allowed for increased collaboration among students, among faculty and between students and faculty.”
“The entire floor was redesigned to have all the CAS staff and faculty offices on the north side of the building, all the classrooms in the center of the building and new student study spaces on the east side and on the south side of the building (the latter overseeing the water),” Michael said.
Additionally, the former CAS Dean’s office was also remodeled and is now home to psychology research labs offices for the math faculty.
There are no future renovation plans for Davis Hall at this time.
