Penn Residential Services announced in an email sent last Wednesday that, beginning on Jan. 19, the many offices located in Stouffer Commons are being temporarily relocated while the residential building undergoes renovations.
Between Jan. 19 and 25, the offices of College Houses & Academic Services, New Student Orientation & Academic Initiatives, and Residential & Hospitality Services — which includes Penn Dining and Off-Campus Services — are in the process of moving to Samson Place West. The Weingarten Center has already moved to Hamilton Village and can be accessed on an appointment basis, according to the email.
Stouffer Commons will be closed starting Jan. 26, but students who want to access the Platt Performing Arts House will be able to enter through the commons, the email reads.
Director of Residential Services Patrick Killilee told the Daily Pennsylvanian that Stouffer College House will be undergoing renovations which caused the relocation of the offices in Stouffer Commons. While residential section will undergo bigger interior and exterior improvements, smaller updates will also be made to Stouffer Commons.
“We didn’t have to be out of space until May. But, we talked with our colleagues and our partner offices about what would be the best time, and we kind of always agreed it was easier to move at the beginning of the semester than at the end,” he said.
There were a variety of factors involved when choosing spaces for relocation, Killilee said. Different programs within the Stouffer Common offices had different needs. He said that Weingarten needed its office to be accessible and as close to students as possible.
The other offices in Stouffer Commons will move to Sansom West which has two and a half floors of office space that can accommodate around 200 people.
Killilee confirmed that the relocation of the offices is not permanent and that they will return to Stouffer Commons following the renovations.
“We will have to see what will be the least disruptive, but the plan is to move back in late summer, early fall of 2023, once the Stouffer residential portion is complete,” Killilee said.
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