Warren Square updated after complaints

Warren Square D is located at 222 Summit Street on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. Warren Square D recently underwent multiple renovations, including the stairwell, lounge, and the kitchen. (Sarah Dawson/B&W Photo)

Several houses in the Warren Square Complex underwent renovations this summer and winter break after students complained about the living arrangements.

The kitchens in both Warren Square A and D were renovated over the summer, and new flooring and carpeting were installed in these houses, according to Ozzie Breiner, the director of Residential Services. A bathroom in Warren Square D was refurbished over the winter break along with the kitchen in Warren Square F.

The third floor of Warren Square A stands in disrepair on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Parts of Warren Square have been renovated in response to complaints made over the past year. (Sydney O’Tapi/B&W photo)

“I think they actually did a good job,” said Eugene Vivino, a former resident of Warren Square A and previous member of the Eco House Live Lehigh Community. “It was a process to get there, but they did a good job.”

After the Lehigh administration decided to transfer the Eco House — one of several Live Lehigh communities in the complex — from Warren Square A to the less-maintained Warren Square D, Vivino and other residents wrote a list of desired improvements for the house.

Residential Services was able to complete almost all of the desired upgrades, which included replacing kitchen appliances with energy star appliances, repainting rooms and hallways, improving landscaping, replacing fluorescent tubes with LED lights and adding a composter.

The third floor of Warren Square A is in disrepair on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. Complaints made by residence during the 2014-15 school year have prompted repairs to several Warren Square buildings. (Sydney O’Tapi/B&W photo).

Lauren Sleator, ’16, who is a current member of the Eco House community — which was formerly known as the Green House community — said many members had been annoyed with the move at the time, because Warren Square D was in bad disrepair and the physical greenhouse was in the backyard of Warren Square A.

“Last year we were having trouble getting people to agree to live in Eco House,” Sleator said. “We had four residents last year that were interested in living in the house, but because Warren Square D was in such bad shape, they chose not to live there.”

The Eco House community is not having as much trouble recruiting new members to live in the house next year, according to Sleator. Because of its physical location, the community does not do quite as much in the greenhouse this year, but they are growing plants inside their home.

The number of residents in the Eco House community demanded they move into a smaller house, according to Breiner.

Sleator said it seemed like the renovations had been done hastily.

“We had been complaining about it, and the students in other Warren Square houses were complaining, and I think they felt like they needed to do something pretty quick,” Sleator said.

One bathroom in Warren Square D was repaired over the winter break because of the residents said the plumbing had been malfunctioning during the fall semester, according to Sleator.

“They did a good job,” Vivino said. “I can’t fault them. However, if we had not pressed for change, they may not have done nearly as much.”

Residential Services prioritizes which buildings to renovate based on what is in the most need, according to Breiner.

“Warren Square was definitely an area that was in need of attention,” Breiner said. “Certainly everything was fully functional for years, but it might not have been as attractive as it could have been.”

Residential Services plans to shut down several buildings in the Warren Square Complex this upcoming summer to do extensive work, according to Breiner. The process will take two years until it is completed.

The third floors of several Warren Square houses are uninhabitable, and many of the basements are not functional.

“It would be enormously expensive to renovate the third floors, and in some cases the usable space you get out of renovating the basements wouldn’t be worth the money we would spend,” Breiner said.

Sleator, who has lived with the Eco House community for three years, wants to see the community continue to exist.

“Even thought we’re physically in a different building, it still feels like home,” Sleator said. “What makes it home is the fact that you can walk out of your room and you can talk to your housemates and friends at any time.”