After a 14-year stay at The University of Memphis, the furniture in Carpenter Complex will be taken away.
The Office of Residence Life invited current residents of the Carpenter apartments and townhouses to view sample furniture Thursday. The furniture came from the two bidders that the office had selected out of a pool of 12.
"They were the two lowest bids who still met our specifications," said Danny Armitage, director of Residence Life.
Both vendors presented couches, dining room tables, coffee tables and desks for students and Residence Life staff to see. Some of the representatives from the furniture companies encouraged students to sit on the couches.
"The way they set it up was very homey like," said Rokeita Henry, junior accounting major.
"It looked like real furniture, not just an art project," said Amber Floyd, junior education major.
Both students live in the Carpenter townhouses and feel that the furniture renovation is much needed.
Although most students felt it was time for new furniture, they had some concerns.
"Oh yeah, our furniture now is old and worn-out," said Christy Belew, senior social work major. "Our dining room tables are much larger; those could only fit four," she added.
Belew is a resident assistant at Carpenter Complex.
Both vendors presented dining room tables smaller than the current tables. Floyd believed that this could be a problem for those students who have five people living in a townhouse.
"They had really good stuff, but I would want to mix and match," said Chuck Grimes, junior political science major and Carpenter resident assistant. "If they do go solely with one or mix and match, it will enhance the overall appearance of the apartments and townhouses," Grimes said.
After previewing the furniture, students filled out surveys about what they thought about the furniture.
"They're gonna sleep on it. They're gonna study on it," Armitage said. "Within reason, students should be able to have input on the furniture."
There is money designated in their budget that the Office of Residence Life uses for renovation and repairs of all the dorms. A schedule is set up for replacing items such as furniture and mattresses in the dorms, but is flexible depending on the condition, Armitage said.
"This (renovation) will not have an effect on price increases in any capacity," Armitage said.
"Usually, you can only purchase $99,000 of furniture before we have to go to the Board of Regents for approval," said Deanna Gillespie, business officer of Residence Life.
She said that the office will not know if they will have to seek permission from the Tennessee Board of Regents until the final decision on the furniture company.
The furniture has been in the complexes since its opening in 1990, according to Armitage.
"We are about to break ground on new housing units," Armitage said. "So, we wanted the new and old units to be positive all across the board."
The removal of the furniture will be in three phases over a period of three years, according to Armitage and Gillespie. The living room furniture will be replaced in the first phase starting in summer 2005. Because of fewer residents in the apartments and townhouses and the time it takes to manufacture all of the furniture for the 105 housing units, summers are more convenient, Armitage said.
