Brandeis is scheduled to complete renovations to East Quad and Sherman Dining Hall by the start of the fall semester, with updates to the Pomerantz residence hall completed in time for occupancy. The university added a lift in Sherman to make the space more accessible for the students, faculty and staff who use it, and replaced about 160 windows in East Quad, according to facilities administrator Robert Avalle. In total, the renovations cost the university around $7 million.

Upgrades completed over the summer focused on accessibility and inclusivity on campus. In addition to the new lift in Sherman, the university added a temporary ramp at the entrance of Shiffman to make the building more easily accessible. They are developing plans to add a permanent ramp. Construction on the library’s first gender-neutral bathroom was also completed over the summer, and plans for more gender-neutral bathrooms are being drawn up. Before the Fall 2015 semester began, first-year residences got new gender-neutral bathrooms, along with the option for gender-neutral housing, previously only available to older students.

In addition to placing new windows in Pomerantz, construction crews are upgrading the roof in Hassenfeld to add in new drains. They will be replacing the roof in Hassenfeld starting May 2017, when students have moved out of the building for the summer, Avalle explained.

Construction on an outdoor eating space for the Stein, which began last academic year, has yet to be completed. Though the indoor space will be open when the semester begins, Avalle has no expected completion date for the outdoor space.

Other construction completed over the summer includes upgrades to the Theater Lot (T-Lot) and the Shapiro Academic Complex lot, adding 25 more parking spaces, and upgraded fire alarm systems in multiple academic and administrative buildings.