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CTI Unveils Newly-Renovated Lobby: New Services for Students, Prospectives & Visitors at Ground Level
When CTI resumed classes at the start of 2002, students, faculty, staff and visitors were welcomed back with a new and improved, service-oriented main lobby.
The desire to highlight CTI's growing vitalityin the field of computer sciences education underscored the renovation.
 "This is a part of the plan to transform the building that houses CTI, into a showcase for CTI," says Daniel Mittleman, CTI assistant professor. "The college has grown from less than 1,000 students when it was formed in 1995, to about 4,300 students today. We wanted the lobby, a first impression for many, to have a strong CTI presence."
Renovation on CTI's west lobby, 243 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, started in late June, and the lobby re-opened amid the final construction phase at the beginning of the winter quarter. During most of the rehab, the lobby was closed and people used a secondary lobby on the south side of the building to access classes, computer labs and offices.
A number of enhancements will convert the lobby from simply an entrance way to a user-friendly introduction to CTI. On about March 1, CTI's admissions office will be located at the east end of the lobby on the ground floor, easing the way for prospective students to visit with an admissions counselor and collect information. There also will be a new mezzanine level, accessed by a lobby staircase, that houses CTI's student services offices. There are four computer kiosks in these offices for current students to interact with online advising services.
Also in the lobby, a wide-screen information display sits alongside the Information Desk and offers up-to-date facts on CTI classes, programs, and events for all visitors. In addition, an information kiosk, which provides directions to CTI offices, staff and faculty, is in the lobby.
Two elevators in the lobby continue to serve people accessing the nine floors of CTI, but they will be upgraded starting in late 2002 or early 2003. In 2003, the lobby will be expanded even further.
The project's architect was VMC Architects, Inc., of Chicago.
In the new CTI lobby, a wide- screen information display will sit alongside an Information Desk and will offer up-to-date facts on CTI classes, programs and events for all visitors. "This is a part of the plan to transform the building that houses CTI, into a showcase for CTI." Daniel Mittleman, CTI assistant professor.
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