Fisher Hassenfeld College House’s gate at 37th and Spruce streets has reopened for the spring semester after being closed last semester due to ongoing construction at the Quadrangle.
In an email sent to Fisher Hassenfeld residents on Dec. 12, 2024, Building Administrator Maurice Penn informed students that they are now able to enter the dorm from the Spruce Street entrance. The gate will be the only point of entry for the Upper Quad this semester as Fisher Hassenfeld’s rear entrance on Hamilton Walk entrance is now closed for construction.
Ware College House — the central section of the Quad, Penn’s traditional first-year housing — is undergoing renovations for the 2024-25 school year and is currently closed to students. The renovations, which involved the closure of 624 bed spaces, fully separated the Upper and Lower Quad and altered entrances to the dorm.
Wharton first-year Justin Abenoja expressed excitement about being back on campus because of the gate’s convenience.
“It provides easy access to those spaces on campus compared to last semester when I would have to go around and walk so far just to get to buildings on campus,” he said. “It used to take an extra five minutes for you to get to places. With the Upper Quad gates opening, it eliminate[s] that extra time that you’re spending walking and it’s overall less of a hassle to get around campus.”
Similar to Abenoja, College first-year Eunwoo Kim also emphasized the practicality of the gate.
“With this gate, it’s easier to get to our most popular lunch spot at McClelland and also to get to classes because mine are always in Meyerson or DRL or farther away, so it’s much more convenient now,” Kim said.
Wharton first-year James Waskito said that he originally had to walk to Lower Quad whenever he needed a temporary credential to enter his room since Fisher Hassenfeld’s reception desk in the Upper Quad Information Center was closed due to the construction.
“We didn’t have an office,” Waskito said. “Anytime we would need a temporary key, we would have to walk all the way to Riepe, which sucked bad.”
Waskito added that the reopening of the gate makes his “access to the campus so much better.”
“It also makes our dorms actually look decent,” he said. “I remember coming in on the first day from break, I looked at the gate and I was like ‘Oh my god, this actually looks pretty, our dorms don’t look like a shack.'"
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