Faculty and students hope that the extended hours for Art Park West will be more suitable for their needs, but many are still holding out for the building to be open 24 hours.

Beginning this past Monday, Art Park West will be open on Saturdays from noon until 6:00 p.m. and open one extra hour during the week until 11:30 p.m. Previously, the building was closed on Saturday.

Art classes have been relocated to the Art Park West during the construction and renovation of the Dounda Fine Art Center.

The new hours were proposed by students during a forum because many art majors said the old hours did not give enough time for outside work.

Prior to the closing of the Dounda Fine Art Center, students were able to work there 24 hours a day seven days a week, if they had a special pass from staff. Many students hope administrators will figure out a way to open Art Park West that often.

“The studio wasn’t open long enough before for me to complete all of my outside of class assignments, and I don’t believe the extended hours will make a big difference,” said Carrie Murray a senior graphic design major.

“It surely won’t hurt anything,” John Eilers, a senior 2-D design major, said. “I’d still like it open 24 hours, but I know we can’t have that.”

Amanda Miller, a senior art major, said, “It’s good that they did extend the hours, but I know other students would like to have it open 24 hours so they have more access.”

Ceramic students had special concerns over the hours because they still cannot glaze their projects. Gas kilns have not been built yet, and may cause a back up of projects toward the end of the semester.

“I know last year we were in (Dounda Fine Arts) all night before finals,” said Nichole Ayala, a senior psychology and art major.

“There’s more work (in ceramics) after midterm that needs to be done, especially since things got pushed back a couple of weeks,” said Ryan Hill, a 3-D art major.

Other students have found other

avenues to deal with fewer open hours.

“I felt that I had no choice but to order my own computer recently so that I was able to work at home when the IGA Building was closed. I felt as soon as I got involved into an assignment I had to gather my things because the building was closing,” Murray said.

Though some students think the hours may not be enough, most are happy about the extension, and are especially relieved about the added Saturday hours. Between work and school, many find the weekend are there only opportunity to get work finished.

“The Saturday (hours) are a big thing with me,” Stacie Harris, a junior art major, said. “I’d rather do my stuff on Saturdays.”

Denise Rehm-Mott, printmaking professor, said, “I feel additional hours will be helpful but they probably won’t be enough, the problem is lack of security.”

Eastern maintains these strict hours because there has to be a person at the door at all times. The door attendant is paid wages from Eastern.

The majority of the classrooms locked in the Dounda Fine Arts building so that students could lock the door behind them for security reasons. The classrooms in the IGA building have approximately 8-foot high walls and 16 foot high ceilings.

“Anyone who wanted to get into a classroom even if the door was locked could just climb over the wall,” Rehm-Mott said.

The Art Park West has set up a sign up sheet for students to sign in and sign out so their is a list of all occupants in the building after classes are over.

Glenn Hild, chair of the art department, said “The problem is having someone to monitor the building. This person has to be paid wages, which costs the university.”

Art Park West is now open every day of the week instead of six days to accommodate students.

“The Building is open about 80 percent of the time during the week and to accommodate everyone two things had to happen. The hours were changed and now students have to adjust their schedules,” he said.

Jeremy Roach, a junior art education major, said he thought with time management skills and perseverance, most students will be able to work around the Art Park West hours.

Melissa Neilsen contributed to this story.