The newly revitalized Chuck's Place at Fort Hays State University in Kansas gives students a fresh new place to hang out and get some of the FHSU Tiger spirit. See how InPro's design team worked with FHSU staff to make the school's vision come to life.
In the midst of the vast prairie in west central Kansas stands the town of Hays. As happened with many of the towns out West, Hays started as an Army post, Fort Hays, which also served as a railhead for shipping cattle and buffalo hides back east.
Hays is also home to Fort Hays State University (FHSU), with its 4,500 on-campus students, and 1,200 on-campus residents. The university also boasts another 7,000 students enrolled in its virtual college program. Their athletic team's mascot is the Tigers, a fact that will play prevalently as this story goes on.
Wiest Hall ... home of Chuck's Place
On-camps residential spaces include two apartment buildings and three residence halls, with a total of about 780 rooms. One of the largest dorms is Wiest Hall, which is coed-by floor and houses 330 students. The hall was named for Charles Fischer Wiest who served at FHSU from 1920-1948, and for which "Chuck's Place" is named.
Chuck's is a student gathering place offering game tables, dartboards, a television alcove, a small snack bar, and a small kitchen for students to prepare special meals. The snack bar is open from 7:00 p.m.- midnight, but the space is open virtually around the clock for students to gather or study. Weekends are usually the time Chuck's is the busiest. "Chuck's Place is a hang out area," said Brian Faust, director of residential life at FHSU.
Getting "Tigerized"
Shana Meyer, FHSU assistant vice president for Student Affairs, had a longtime goal of refurbishing Chuck's. And for good reason. The space had become very dated, with the equivalent of "dogs playing poker" in mural form on the walls. The space had become old and dark, and needed help.
While attending a residence hall tradeshow, Shana stopped by InPro's booth, and ended up spending about 30 minutes there. "I started looking at InPro's signage, but the more I saw of their product line, the more intrigued I got," said Shana. In conversation with the InPro staff, Shana came to realize that she could bring her vision for the Chuck's Place renovation to life. "We wanted to see Chuck's get 'Tigerized," said Shana, and obvious reference to tying in the FHSU school mascot.
Enter the Color and Design Center
Shana worked with Kathy Krueger, InPro's senior designer, who heads up the company's Color and Design Center (CDC), a complimentary service InPro offers to customers and prospects. Kathy teamed with InPro's Kansas Territory Manger, Mark Hewitt, who toured the space, then met with Shana to discuss her vision. "Kathy was able to draw more out of the space than we had ever imagined," said Shana. "She helped us uncover new design ideas, and deliver a coordinated look for the space."
Part of Kathy's task was to bring InPro's branding ability to the FHSU project. "Our signage division prides itself on helping colleges and universities standardize and expand their brand," said Larry Dronek, InPro's vice president of marketing. "We do that by merging school mascots, logos and colors into everything from interior signage to large wall-mounted murals and banners. Kathy then tied that into an overall décor and color scheme for Chuck's Place."
Shana said that, as the project evolved, Kathy worked with her and the FHSU staff to make changes. "I appreciated that Kathy was flexible, and accommodated some of the changes we made in our plans," said Shana.
FHSU facilities team handles install
Delvin Bader, Facility Supervisor, and his team took over once the InPro products arrived on campus. He said his team was able to take on the Chuck's Place renovation as a "fill-in" project over two weeks.
"Our guys started in, and found the installation to be fairly simple, Delvin said. He added that InPro's Interior Coatings were easy to apply. "We were covering over some paints and finishes that were very dark and had a lot of heavy patterns in them," Delvin said. "The InPro coatings went on well. It took two coats, but I was impressed that it covered over that old paint."
When asked about assembling the new wall art, Delvin said that went pretty smooth, too. "InPro gave us a template for the 'Welcome' and "Fort Hays State University wall signs. They went up fairly easily," he said.
Shana added that the FHSU Tiger logo is quite complex. "That's not a simple logo," Shana said, "but InPro captured it exactly."
Night and day difference
With the work completed, students and staff have seen a definite improvement. "Chuck's is now more inviting, it's more like home," said Beth Steffen, Wiest Hall Director. "And we're seeing more student groups gather at Chuck's. We have international students who now come here for their English conversation 'corner' because the director of that program loves the new space," Beth said.
"The color scheme of the space is more like you'd see in someone's home," added Shana.
Brian Faust, the residential life director, said that more people are stopping over to see the "new" space. "We 're seeing more people touring Chuck's," Brian said. "Ideally, I'm hoping this becomes a stop on campus tours. It'd be nice for prospective students and their parents to see this place."
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