A new tent has been added to Mustang Way to ensure students have a dry, lighted space to study and eat outside on campus.
The 1,800-square-foot tent can cover enough tables and seating to accommodate 50 people. This new pop-up is in addition to the more than 200 tables, 400 chairs, 200 brightly colored umbrellas, and 20 Adirondack chairs that were added to six new outdoor living areas across campus during fall quarter.
By offering these expanded outdoor spaces, students have alternative places to study, attend virtual classes, eat and responsibly socialize outside of their residence. All of the spaces were created in an effort to further support student success throughout the pandemic.
"Planning and executing the outdoor living spaces has allowed us to experiment, in a quick manner, with some ideas that came out of our recent work with the UU Plaza Master Plan and long-range visioning for the space," Cal Poly Facilities Architect Anthony Palazzo said. "In real time we have seen what works well for students, what areas they gravitate to, and what amenities we should include in permanent installations. This will allow us to focus our efforts and maximize our plans for the plaza and Mustang Way."
In addition, for students and staff using these outdoor spaces, there are now portable chargers and new Wi-Fi hotspots to provide coverage for the new areas.
The new portable chargers are free to check out at the University Store and will allow the campus community to use the multitude of outside study areas on campus without worrying about their laptop’s battery going dead.
The planning and execution of these projects was a collaborative effort with Palazzo, Andrea Burns, Donald Popham, Mike Thornton, Jude Fledderman, Daren Connor, Marlene Cramer, Michele Winterfeldt, Russell Monteath and members of the Facility Maintenance team who helped with the electrical and tent placement.