Located on the south side of campus behind Laurel Hall, Linden Hall has long since retired from its library duties and welcomes the age of change by being turned into new offices with services for students.
Back in July 2023, the college received a $31.7 million grant from the New Jersey Office of Higher Education to renovate Linden Hall into “student-centered hub of core support and services,” according to a press release.
Dr. Michael Yankovich, vice president for operational and administrative integration, explained that design work for the Linden Hall renovation is currently underway, and demolition is expected to start around the fall of next year.
There is no set date for the Linden Hall reopening as of now, but they are hoping to reopen by early to mid-2027, or sooner if possible.
Yankovich’s responsibility on the project is to oversee the Ramapo’s Capital Planning department, which is responsible for developing long-term capital renewal and investment plans and manages all major projects related to it.
“The college completed a facilities condition assessment in 2022, which indicated that Linden Hall was in need of a renovation,” Yankovich stated over email. “Linden Hall is about the right size so that after renovation it will be the perfect building to help us solve some of the adjacency and ease-of-access challenges we have with the current layout of campus.”
Yankovich looks to Linden as being an opportunity for students. The renovated building will provide students easier access to support offices and services on campus, with all the resources they need in one place.
Offices, like Residence Life, the mailroom, Health Services and Public Safety, will now be available in close quarters to students. There will additionally be meeting rooms available that will provide more spaces on campus for students to come together, if needed.
Yankovich said that they will not be expanding Linden Hall, but rather just fixing it to accommodate the new revisions to the campus community. Construction on the building will include new flooring, lighting, ceilings and HVAC, and it will reconfigure the interior space to accommodate the missions of the units moving into Linden.
“This renovation will enable us to… revitalize, renew and retool a space to enhance the effectiveness of student support services,” he stated.
In addition to meeting rooms and offices, Yankovich says they plan to create a “swing space” on one of the floors to support future renovation projects. This “swing space” will include offices, classrooms and conference rooms that can be reserved by anyone from the campus community. It will also be a valuable resource when the college renovates other buildings, such as C-, D-, and H-Wings, in the future.
There is no set date for the Linden Hall reopening as of now, but they are hoping to reopen by early to mid-2027, or sooner if possible.
As for what to expect going forward, Yankovich suggested that Linden is one of the many projects around campus being done. With Ramapo infrastructure nearing 50 years old, much of the focus over the next decade will be on revitalizing the infrastructure.
“I wouldn’t expect to see much new construction in the next 10 years,” Yankovich stated. “But there will be a lot of work being done to ensure that the infrastructure is ready to support students for the next 50 years.”
rbleich@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Jenna Barnes
