Those students who relish the thought of a piping hot cup of coffee on those bitter, blustery days of winter, will have to be willing to go that extra mile for their beloved java. Well, perhps not literally an extra mile, but easily another several hundred feet, up the pedestrian ramp outside the D.P. Culp Center and into the food court on the second level.
The closing of the Cave is one of many minor inconveniences due to current renovations of the now 30-year-old Culp Center. The Java City coffee shop formerly housed therein has relocated temporarily to the old smoking dining room in the Atrium. The move was orchestrated during the Christmas break and went off without a hitch, re-opening for business the first day of the semester.
The first phase of renovation began last August and was scheduled to be finished by the start of this semester, but that has been pushed up to mid-February according to Tony Warner, assistant vice president of the D. P. Culp Center and campus ID services.
“At one time or the other, every area of the building is going to be shut down,” Warner said.
The first of the soon to be finished areas on the third floor will become the new home of Disability Services and the TRIO Programs.
The Advisement Resources Career Center will also be moving up to the newly remodeled space on the third floor in February on a temporary basis.
Many changes for the better are in store for the dated structure. Originally designed and conceived in the wake of the Oil Embargo Crisis of the early to mid ’70s, the building was designed to be as frugal as possible. Lighting was kept to a bare minimum, only one elevator was installed, exterior walls are 18 inches thick and the heating and air conditioning systems were master controlled with no thermostats in individual spaces.
Warner agrees that it is rather ironic that today, “We’re hearing the same rhetoric that we heard in 1973 and ’74, that the future of our country depends on conserving energy and being energy efficient.”
Vast advances in technology over the last 30 years will afford the Culp Center tremendous improvements in heating and cooling, ventilation, lighting, fire alarm protection systems and restroom facilities.
As with other remodeling jobs there are some annoyances along the way and some students don’t share Warner’s enthusiasm for the project. “I’m glad they’re renovating, but the fact that they had to close the Cave is a big inconvenience for me because I always go through there to stay out of the cold weather a little longer,” said Brandon Cox, business major.
While most agree it is nice to see the building getting a much needed facelift and feel the changes are appropriate, some feel other changes ought to considered.
“I think while they’re renovating the Culp Center they should update the artwork, maybe even display artwork from current ETSU art students,” said Hollie Strom, senior art major.
Essentially when the entire project is completed by its projected completion date in the summer of 2008, everything will appear fresh and new. The whole building will receive new carpeting, floor tiles and a fresh coat of paint.

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