After three weeks of traffic at about 20,000 people a day in the new Baker Center, The Post’s Jessica Blakely and Laura Bernheim sat down with Anne Lombard, director of Campus Life, to find out how the transition to the new building has gone.
The Post: Overall, how was the transition to the new building?
Anne Lombard: I had been serving as the Director of Campus Life and was recently asked to take on oversight of Baker Center as well. I’ve been in that role for about four weeks, and I’ve got two staffs to help me with that.
Post: Have you encountered any problems in the past four weeks?
Lombard: It’s new construction and with any new construction you’ve got things that you need to work through, and we’re continuing to do that, but it’s not stuff that is unexpected. It’s like building a new house.
Post: Some students we’ve talked to have commented on the slow service and long lines in the Front Room and Food Court. Have you had any issues in training new employees to keep lines moving?
Lombard: This is the place people want to be right now, and if it’s slow it’s because there are so many people who are wanting to take part of it. It’s not a staffing issue; it’s just usage, which is great. We like that problem.
Post: To you, what is the most underrated part of the building right now?
Lombard: I think the outdoor patio space, because of the weather. I think when the weather gets nice, that’s going to be a really, really popular part of this building. But I walk all through this building. I see people all over and I love it.
Post: Some students say that the building is overwhelming. Do you have any feedback to that?
Lombard: I think it’s getting used to it. With the students here now, it feels smaller and more comfortable because it’s full and vibrant. The change from the Old Baker to the New Baker is huge, in terms of space and what we have here. It doesn’t feel that way to me anymore, but in November, when it was just staff, it was very lonely here.
Post: With such a big building, how concerned are you about vandalism?
Lombard: I’m not any more concerned about that than I would be in any other building. … I don’t think there’s any way to prevent that in a place where we literally have thousands of people coming through. We’re estimating that we have 20,000 people a day — at least several thousand.
Post: So, tell me about the movie theater here.
Lombard: Well it’s not really a movie theater; it’s a theater space. There’s stadium seating in there, and it seats 190 permanently, and then we have the ability to do what I call cabaret style seating with little tables and chairs. … I personally think that this is going to be the single most popular place in this building.
Post: How frequently is it used now?
Lombard: We’ve been working to get the system programmed. Things don’t go according to schedule. It’s going to start being used a lot though. For example, it’s the space where Undergraduate Admissions is going to start having all their admissions visit days.
Post: What still needs to be completed in the new building?
Lombard: We’ve still got some equipment that we’re waiting on and some furniture deliveries we’re waiting on. We’ve still got contractors in here finishing up various things, like putting the finishing touches on the garage, just the little things. It’s like the cake is built but now you have to frost it.
Post: When do you think you’ll be settled and this will be just another building on campus?
Lombard: I don’t know that that will ever really level out. With upper campus and lower campus being connected now in a way that they weren’t, that traffic isn’t going to change. I would guess that the traffic at some point will die down after a while, but I hope it’s never a place where students don’t want to be. We want it to be a place where people want to come and hang out, and we’re seeing that.
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