Having been approved by the UH System Board of Regents, the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management will undergo renovations in the spring.
Students and faculty said that constant updating is necessary.
"It would be nice to see them use some of the money used on student areas," hotel and restaurant management junior Peter Lin said. "We don’t see any of the hotel rooms. The furniture in the classrooms is old and the lounge could be nicer."
Despite approving the renovations at a board meeting on Aug. 16, Regent Morgan Dunn O’Connor said that the renovation funds would have to be justified to other colleges that didn’t receive as much funding as the Hilton College’s $11.1 million budget for the improvements.
"The Hilton College should be nice," political science and history junior Mildred Scott said. "But I think that people overlook the humanities department all the time. Why do our fees keep going up if our college and the students aren’t benefiting?"
Funding for the 1974 building renovations comes mostly from the Hilton Fund, which was created in 1995 as a non-profit organization that provides grants and financial assistance to different organizations, including UH.
The largest donation was $6.5 million; it was from the Hilton Fund through the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Other sources for the renovation funds were raised from the Hilton Foundation Grant, the Higher Education Assistance Funds, College Funding and Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance program.
The Hilton College is composed of a $28.8 million complex that includes the 86-room Hilton University of Houston Hotel along with classrooms and new facilities.
The renovations are scheduled to begin in April, pending the approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in September. The project should be completed by June 2010.
"We are confident the THECB will see the value of this project and it will be approved," Hilton College Dean John Bowen said.
The building will have a new hotel room layout, an upgraded parking garage, repaired structural problems and improved existing facilities, such as the student-run restaurant Barron’s.
"The student-run restaurant really needs help," hotel and restaurant management sophomore Matt Riggs said. "It is a great space with so much potential, and it could be so much nicer."
Riggs, a college ambassador, said the renovations are expected to keep the Hilton College competitive nationwide.
"We are ranked number two behind Cornell," Riggs said. "I think it is important to make sure we stay up at the top of the rankings."
