March 2002: Vol. 81, No. 2

No AC, but still a cool place to live

n a small dorm room, faint laughter and bursts of applause drift through the open window, recognizable above the soft hum of an electric fan. The unseasonably warm February afternoon suggests spring cannot be far away, as do the sounds of an ultimate frisbee game out on the quad.

Welcome to Myers Hall, which has been home to this kind of old-fashioned, non-air-conditioned living experience since it opened its doors way back in 1953, when Ike and Mamie were new to the White House and hardly anyone had air conditioning. Opened at the same time as Reed Hall, Myers was, as UGA housing director Jim Day puts it, "a pretty jam-up place when it was built."

Built in 1953, Myers is getting a much-needed face lift. Air conditioning is a nice touch, but open doors and windows brought people together.

Myers '53 had a browsing library, two sun decks, four guest suites, and two student lounges. The basement on the north end once contained a grill and a bookstore operated by the University. Originally, the building was occupied only by women. Sylvia Bell, who lived at Myers in 1962, remembers visitation rules that were much stricter than anything today's students have experienced.

"Men could not enter. They were not allowed to go visit in a room," she says. "You could go downstairs and sit there with a boy. But you'd better behave yourself."

Bell recalls steamy temperatures year-round in Myers: "In the winter, you just wore nothing on that fourth floor. The girls would just be lounging around—you would think it was the Bahamas."

Myers isn't the Bahamas, but in my estimation it is the ideal place to live on campus. Whether it can maintain its charm once the current renovation is completed by fall 2003 is anybody's guess. But what I'll remember long after I graduate are the good times I had during my three years at Myers.

"The quad is a unique entity—almost like a living person," says area coordinator Ralphel Smith, referring to the vast lawn in back of Myers, which plays host to football, dodgeball, and kickball. It's also a popular spot for tailgaters on football weekends, and ultimate frisbee—the official sport of Myers—is played nearly non-stop, either on a pickup basis or in the Myers league.

Other factors make Myers unique, including its residents, who range from freshmen to seniors, allowing traditions to be passed down within the community. Even the student government is unique—set up as a governing board of equal members, rather than the typical hierarchical structure found in most residence halls.

The age of the building and its lack of air conditioning are a turnoff to some people, but Myers residents see the silver lining.

"Since there's no air conditioning, people leave their doors open at the beginning of the year to get more circulation," says J.J. Wiley, a junior from Gainesville. "When the doors are open, you have a tendency to talk to people."

"Everyone said the heat would be horrible, but it's really not," says Holly Fogleman, a freshman from Snellville. "You get a fan and you're good."

Fogleman is among the residents in the south and center sections of Myers who had to relocate while the old girl gets a face lift. While the structure of the building should last a long time, many of its systems are worn out or antiquated, says Jim Day. The electrical, heating, and fire safety systems all need work. The renovation will modernize all those essentials, and elevators will be added, for both convenience and to make Myers '03 wheel-chair compliant. Oh yeah, AC is coming, too.

"If you're going to replace all those systems, the question becomes, 'What else do you do?'" says Day. Other improvements will include the addition of 19 suites, ranging from 2-6 beds in size, plus 50-60 single rooms, laundry rooms and kitchens, extra phone lines, and improved Internet connections.

The last residence hall to be renovated was Reed, which reopened in 1998 after a $10.4 million facelift. Myers' renovation will cost $16.4 million, with the suites reducing the number of beds from 475 to roughly 400.

Myers was the site of an anti-desegregation riot when Charlayne Hunter lived there in 1961. Kevin Miles, who lived in Myers in 1982-83, recalls the lighter side of college life:

"We were all pretty unified. You didn't have to join a fraternity to be part of a group." Frisbee was already big in Miles' day, as were water balloons. "One of our greatest triumphs," says Miles, "was the water balloon launch from our balcony to the sorority across Lumpkin." Perched on the southern sun deck, Miles and friends targeted the young men who came to pick up their dates at the Alpha Chi house.

My fear is that in modernizing Myers, which needed to be done, residents (particularly those in the suites) will feel like they're renting private apartments—and will keep to themselves. That would be in sharp contrast to the communal feeling we all had on Sept. 11.

Three-year resident Ben Braxley remembers the lobby being full of students watching news reports and consoling each other. Soon, Myers residents swung into action.

"By noon, we were calling the Red Cross to find out where blood drives were," says Braxley. "We put up flyers everywhere, and four or five cars packed with people went to give blood."

Myers residents participate in the annual Relay for Life, we've got a recycling program, and last year we had an all-night fun fest at the Ramsey Center. Cookouts and karaoke are also part of the community's social life.

Will residents in post-renovation Myers smell the burgers from inside their air-conditioned rooms and come out and play? I hope so. Living in the old Myers has taught me that there are things I can do without. Community is not one of them.

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