Jon Carey
Equinox Staff
Centennial Hall is opening its doors to the Keene community for group meetings, campus, and community events, presentations, and offers a wide variety of accommodations when in use.
Centennial Hall, located within the newly built Alumni Center, is open to reservations by faculty, staff, and students during regular working hours for campus meetings and events at no cost.
The full room holds a maximum capacity of 250, but the capacity varies depending on the specific function being held.
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For staffing and accommodations fees, the facility can also be available to outside groups who wish to use the large meeting space.
Senior Program Support Assistant, Laurie Alden, explained that evening and weekend use may incur fees for set-up and staffing.
“We do include fees if the request to use the facility is intended for the weekends or evenings,” Alden said. “We do the best we can to work with groups and try and accommodate them the best we can.”
Alumni Center fees include use of the facility, on-site visual equipment, use of on-site tables and chairs, and an on-site facility representative during the event. Additional costs may include catering, provided by Sodexo, additional tables, chairs or audio-visual equipment, security, parking, or other even costs such as decorating.
Requests must be submitted at least five business days prior to the event, and the paper scheduling form is no longer an acceptable reservation method for these purpose.
“We’ve converted to an online request form so students or faculty can fill out the appropriate form and we can approve it quicker and more efficiently,” Alden said.
Alden also explained the facilities technological advancements, such as having the ability to incorporate Power Point presentations and a division wall in order to hold multiple functions at once.
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations, Patricia Farmer, said Centennial Hall is used widely for business meetings of the Alumni Association Board of Directors as well as other campus and community meetings.
“Centennial Hall provides a wonderful space for expert panels on subjects that are important and informative for students,” Farmer said. “The panels are sponsored by academic schools or departments, student groups such as Students in Free Enterprise, and the Alumni Association.”
Farmer also commented on the use of technology in the room and how Centennial Hall incorporates a wide variety of advancements.
“The technology in the room is also a great benefit of using the space because we can Skype in guest speakers and alumni from all over the world,” Farmer said.
With the Keene area being a hot-spot for community events and prominent lectures, Centennial Hall proves to be a key facilitator to both the college and Keene itself.
“I have heard from parents whose students have attended lectures or events in the Alumni Center and they hadn’t realized how extensively it is used by students and campus,” Farmer said. “Having the large meeting space of Centennial Hall available has been a tremendous benefit to campus and both constituencies and there are many programs and priorities of the Alumni Association and Parents Association.”
Alden explained that opening Centennial Hall is an opportunity to host the KSC community, and student groups are encouraged to take advantage of the available space.
“We recently had two student groups use the available space. Both were induction ceremonies and we followed college protocol to establish catering for the events and parking for commuting students,” Alden said.
Students who have attended events within the facility speak highly about the accommodations offered and how efficient they use the space.
“I attended a voice speaker not too long ago held in Centennial Hall and I was surprised how efficient the room was set up to ensure people should sit or stand,” KSC senior Anna Peterson said. “They amplified the microphone all around the room so everyone who attended could actually hear what was being said and I just think they are doing Keene a favor by opening the space up to the public.”
Centennial Hall also provides space for events such as Keene Pumpkin Festival and freshmen orientation, where large amounts of visitors travel to Keene.
“Centennial Hall is a convenient and welcoming reception area for parents, alumni, and students during Pumpkin Festival,” Farmer said. “We are pleased to also welcome students to campus each fall during First Year Orientation with the Campus Scavenger Hunt.”
The opening of Centennial Hall has also opened the college to large events that students and faculty members can participate in, such as graduation.
“Another activity started after the opening of the building has been the Senior Dinner Dessert event which is held in Centennial Hall for graduating seniors and their parents. This is a new tradition on campus [and] it is a wonderful celebration for our new Alumni and their families,” Farmer said.
For questions prior to scheduling or inquiries on availability, contact Will Howell at the scheduling office at 358-2323.
Those who are interested in requesting available space are asked to use the KSC Online Scheduling Request Form to submit your reservation request.
Jon Carey can be contacted at jcarey@keene-equinox.com.