By Mackenzie Langham | Howard Payne’s Veda Hodge Hall and Baseball Clubhouse has recently completed renovations in hopes of improving the atmosphere for students, faculty and staff.
Amanda Moore, a junior resident assistant in Veda, majoring in elementary education said that the renovations done to Veda have been updated to include private study rooms for students.
“We have a lounge area where people can sit on couches, as well as two private rooms where people can go in and study with TVs, even white boards are in there. They took out what had been called the ‘fishbowl’ and put those new rooms in. They are currently building a study bar where you can sit on stools and work and with outlets,” added Moore.
Moore said that there have been many new additions to the lobby, including a kitchen with an oven.
“Two girls baked something yesterday, and it smelled really good. We’ve already had a couple of events in there and it has been a good turnout. Tons of people have been in there, and we are still able to social distance. Different parts of the lobby have various uses for people to come in and gather,” said Moore.
Rishona Raub, a sophomore RA in Veda, majoring in the Academy and strategic communication had positive things to say about the updates.
“Now, the Veda lobby is more welcoming and a great place for students to fellowship together. Many students utilize the study rooms frequently because it’s a nice place to get away from their room,” said Raub.
Stephen Lynn, head baseball coach, has been coaching baseball at HPU for 17 years. He said that the renovations to the Baseball Clubhouse started at the end of November with the removal of the carpet, and the paint was completely redone as well.
“We put graphic wraps on our doors, and added a tv and bought new couches. There is more of a hexagon honeycomb pattern upstairs. The building used to have a large roll-up door, which had existed from years ago that they rarely used, and the new TV is there now. It gives a better scent to the place—the feeling is something cleaner,” said Lynn.
Johnny Cravey, majoring in youth ministry, is a senior from Huntsville, Texas. He has played baseball at HPU since 2018 and said that not a lot of schools have what HPU has.
“It’s a great recruiting tool to get baseball players to come to Howard Payne. Probably the first thing they’ll see. It’s important that we’re staying grateful for what we have,” said Cravey.
Lynn added that he and the other people who were in on the renovation project did their best to keep it all a secret.
“It was pretty cool to keep them in the dark, and it made it a little more of a surprise. We kept them out of here for about a month and a half in total. Their reaction said it all,” said Lynn.
He added that this project was not done without the support of others.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do this had it not been for the support of the alumni and the support of the administration and the financial support of our alumni to make this possible,” said Lynn.