Renovations on the second floor of Ranger Hall are planned to be completed at the end of the summer. PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Clark | Staff Photographer
Ranger Hall, the home of the University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, is on track to finish the renovations by the start of the fall 2022 semester.
The building has been undergoing renovations since 2016, but construction on the second floor has been in motion since March of 2021. Funding for the renovation of the second and third floors of Ranger Hall was allocated last year.
According to Schane Tallardy, the construction project manager for the Office of Capital Projects at URI, the renovations will create more classrooms for Harrington School courses, as well as general use classrooms. In addition, there will be new screening rooms, filming spaces, editing suites, administrative offices and collaborative study spaces.
Kothari is confident that the renovations to Ranger Hall will draw more enthusiasm to Harrington programs including film media, journalism and communication studies for current and prospective URI students.
According to Ammina Kothari, the director of the Harrington School, her and others’ offices will be moved to the upper floors of Ranger Hall.
“The Ranger Hall Living Room right now is used by some students, but as my office moves [into Ranger Hall] as well as the other admin offices we will see more central activity in [Ranger Hall],” Kothari said.
Large tables and seating will be added to the second floor in hopes that the building will become a place for students to gather and collaborate. It will create an environment different from traditional study spaces such as the library, where group work and conversation are encouraged to mirror the hands-on aspect promoted in the Harrington programs according to Tallardy.
“[The goal is to create] community engagement for all students and faculty as well,” Kothari said.
According to her, these renovations will benefit all students at URI, not just students within the Harrington School.
All URI students will have access to brand-new computer labs and theater space that can be used for screenings of student work. Students taking production courses will specifically benefit from new spaces to both film and new suits for both audio and video editing according to Tallardy.
The first phase of Ranger Hall’s renovation was completed in 2016, which fully remodeled the first floor, including new classrooms, the living room and the Media Equipment Center (MEC).
“As much as nobody likes to look at construction, seeing activity means we are putting investment into the program,” said Tallardy. “[We] worked all through the summer and all through the fall semester and we hope to start moving people in on Aug. 1.”
According to Kothari, the grand opening of the renovated Ranger Hall is currently planned for September and the building will be in full use by September.
Correction (Feb. 15, 2022): Ammina Kothari and other administrators’ offices are not being moved to the Ranger Hall Living Room, but into Ranger Hall.