The JSC Summit Bookstore will soon be settling into its new home in Dewey. The building has been undergoing renovations and, according to Dean of Administration Sharron Scott, the construction should be complete by the end of February vacation.

“The bookstore itself will have more features,” Scott said. “The textbook stacks will be open for students to get their own books. Students won’t have to wait in line to find books, they can just [get] them themselves.”

This new feature allows students the opportunity to browse through all the textbooks and pick between used books and full-price textbooks.

“The textbook stacks will also be on wheels, so that they will be able to wheel them to the back wall when they aren’t in use.” Scott said. Since textbooks are only available at the beginning of the semester, this frees up space for more products to be offered for the rest of the year.

A semicircular curve that followed along the floor where the old café seating was is now being used as a marking for a curved glass wall. “There’s a sofit in the ceiling that matches the floor, so we’re mirroring the same arch that was there before. It will be glass from one corner, across from the student government offices, and go around to the other side where the student learning center is,” she said.
Where the old Basement Medicine office was located will now become the sales floor for the bookstore. Other rooms are being taken over by the bookstore construction as well, including a classroom and the WJSC radio station.

Public Safety will be moved from Stearns to where WJSC is currently in Dewey. WJSC will be relocated to the top floor of Stearns.

Basement Medicine has been temporarily relocated to the slate lounge in Governors South. When the Dewey renovations are complete, Basement Medicine will return to Dewey in a new location where the café used to be. “The café area itself is small, but we’re expanding it now so it’ll go all the way out where the vestibule is. It’ll have a window with a nice view outside as well,” she said.

Accompanying the bookstore in Dewey will also be a convenience store. “If you want a quart of milk and some cereal because you don’t like getting up in the morning, you’ll be able to go to the convenience store,” Scott said. “Students will be allowed to use their points to buy stuff… It’s going to be really exciting.”

The bookstore will be working hand in hand with the new convenience store to insure that there will be no product duplicates on the shelves. “Just the convenience store alone is fantastic. It’s taking up a portion of the student government office. It’ll be about a 400-foot square place, but they’ll be able to sell real store items,” she said. Both the bookstore and the convenience store companies that run those organizations are contributing money to help with the upgrades.

Although the construction will be finished when students come back from February break, the complete bookstore with all new fixtures will not be completed until April. “By April break it will look like a whole new place,” Scott said.

The convenience store will not be open until next school year, however. “It won’t be opened until fall, at the very latest around Thanksgiving. If we can work everything right we want to complete everything before school in the fall.”

“Moving the bookstore did two things, it gave us the opportunity to provide a better place that is a retail venue for them, but it also took a function out of the building that doesn’t operate really late into the evening,” Scott said.

Dewey may also become air-conditioned. “It’s a very strong possibility that Dewey will be air-conditioned as part of this upgrade,” she said. “The bookstore is contributing funds to air condition the bookstore, and the college is working to find money to air condition the rest of the building as well. It can be very difficult in the summer when it gets very warm, even starting in mid-April going to the end of September. It’ll be handy for classes taught in this building as well. There will be three classrooms, so it’ll be great for summer classes and those times during the year when it gets very warm.”

Scott is very excited about all the new upgrades being made to Dewey. “I really think the renovations in both Stearns and Dewey really reflect strongly the input of the students. We’ve really tried to listen to where the concerns are, and where the difficulties are,” she said. “I think we’ve really listened and heard. And the ability to buy milk and cereal is really important and convenient, and the changes that we are making in Stearns goes hand-in-hand with it.”

This is the second time Dewey has gone through renovations. Eleven years ago Dewey was completely transformed from the old JSC library to a student center. The work was completed in 1997.

The construction can be distracting and noisy but Scott doesn’t mind. “It’s definitely the price we pay in progress, but you can already tell it’s going to be great when it’s done,” she said. “Short-term sacrifices for long-term gain. Between the changes in Stearns and the changes in Dewey it’s going to be a remarkably different place.”