Robert Petersen does not miss the “crazy” elevators in Lawson Hall.

Petersen, associate professor in art history and theatre, along with the other art history and art education professors, had their offices on the second and third floors of Lawson while Doudna Fine Arts Center was being constructed.

Now that the professors have moved to Doudna, Lawson is back to being just a residence hall.

“(The elevators) didn’t always work, like at certain times you needed a key and other times you didn’t,” Petersen said. “So sometimes, I like to say I got hijacked up to the ninth floor and I had to go all the way back down.”

For the past five or six years, the art department dominated these two floors.

However, the offices were not convenient for everybody.

“It was hard for students to find me,” Petersen said. “People often complained that I was inaccessible. It was a good 15-minute walk from my office to where I was teaching.”

Other than Lawson residents, the art offices there were often lonely.

“Was there a steady parade of students walking through there? Not at all,” he said. “It was almost always empty. It was very, very quiet on the third floor.”

Housing could not be as flexible with students, especially those wanting doubles as singles.

There were 120 beds on Lawson’s second and third floors that were unusable until now.

“It was wonderful to get those back,” said Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining services.

Having these two floors back allows more capacity for housing, he said.

Although, only the third floor was renovated back into dorm spaces.

The second floor will be utilized as a temporary space for students coming to conferences to stay while at Eastern, Hudson said.

Extensive conferences, like band camp, are held at Eastern during the summer.

This space on the second floor allows these conferences to extend into the school year.

In the past, the people would have to stay in floor lounges or with other students.

“It gives them more flexibility to house them more easily,” Hudson said.

The third floor was renovated over the summer in order to be ready for students to move back in this year.

The fixed furniture in the rooms had been removed to make them into the art offices.

Removing this furniture was part of the long-term plan for residence halls, which only made it easier when it came time to make the rooms back into dorms.

The furniture was updated for students, and the floor was replaced.

Sprinklers and fire alarm systems were also installed throughout Lawson Hall.

With the third floor returned to dorms, housing got 60 spaces back to use for students.

Hudson said, this was helpful, especially for students wishing to get doubles as singles.

Lareasa Smith, a sophomore elementary education major, lived on the seventh floor of Lawson last year.

Since the changes, Smith said she doesn’t see as many administrators or faculty anymore.

“There isn’t as much traffic,” she said.

Smith said the elevators are not as busy these days.

She said it was always strange riding the elevators if a faculty member was on board.

“It was like, ‘Why are they at my home?'” Smith said.

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.