Makerspace temporarily relocates for renovations

Changes are being made to Ithaca College’s Makerspace rooms to increase visibility to students and promote flow within the space by creating an internal passage between the rooms. Temporary locations have been established in Job Hall room 102 and in the form of a pop-up in the library on the third floor of the Gannett Center, while the primary locations in rooms 101 and 102 in Friends Hall undergo a three to four-week renovation. 

This is the latest installment in a string of upgrades to the Makerspace, following the addition of a second room, Friends Hall room 101, in October 2024.

Ash Bailot, makerspace and specialized technology lab coordinator, said items such as power tools, laser cutters, the fabric bin, paper resources, the laminator, soldering irons and paints will not be available until the renovations are completed. They said the matter of transport, strain of packing up at the end of the day and the high risk of damage make these items not feasible for usage outside of the Makerspace’s setting in Friends Hall. 

“It has to be manageable enough that my students can pack everything up at the end of the day and unpack it and reset everything up during the opening hours,” Bailot said. “We didn’t want to bring stuff like paint and power tools that could get the library messy or create any kind of damage in the library.”

In the meantime, the pop-up makerspace in the Gannett Center is offering a limited selection of its resources, including Cricut machines, button maker, beads, thread and hot glue.

Inside the rooms in Friends Hall, renovations will consist of a 5-foot-wide archway installed within the shared wall, a larger entrance desk, a new coat of paint and monitor adjustments. Friends 102 will receive electrical changes to allow for dimmable lighting, matching it with Friends 101. 

Though the rooms will experience some aesthetic modifications, the attached hallway will be heavily redecorated with fresh signage, door and window decor, LED lighting and wraps around seven of the hallway’s pillars to advertise the nearby Esports Lounge and IT Service Desk alongside the Makerspace.

3D printers have been moved to Job 102, which is near the same IT Service Desk that will be marked alongside the Makerspace. Senior Flynn Davidson, IC Makerspace student manager, said it is close to the permanent Makerspace location.

“It’s just a little bit more of a walking distance,” Davidson said. “If someone’s printing a 12-hour overnight print, we can’t unplug that. We would have to pause the print. So [Job 102] was just all-around easier.”

Davidson said they expected the increased visibility of a position in the library, particularly at an early point in the semester when students have more free time to roam and enjoy college life, to bring about more awareness of the Makerspace as a whole. Davidson said the placement of the Makerspace often has students commenting that they did not know of its presence.

“It feels like we’re in an outdoor museum or a live art exhibit because we are a lot more visible on the second floor [of the library],” Davidson said.

College librarian Laura Kuo said she is hoping this will bring about a greater amount of foot traffic to the Makerspace.

“I do hope that it increases foot traffic into the library, for those who are aware that the Makerspace is here,” Kuo said, “Perhaps … students who might not be aware that we have a makerspace on campus will see it.”

Davidson said the library pop-up is best suited for offering space and aid in ongoing crafts. Alongside the absence of the fabric bin, the pop-up will have difficulty offering aid to students who may want to start a new project.

Andrew Hogan, director of engagement and client technologies, said there may be a decrease in noise pollution from the hallway outside of the permanent Makerspace location.

“Having the archway between the two rooms would allow us to keep the door to Friends 101 closed,” Hogan said. “So that way all the hallway noise … wouldn’t penetrate into the 101 space.”

Bailot said there is a possibility the noise level inside the renovated Makerspace might increase, but at worst, it would be comparable to how the Makerspace sounded prior to the October 2024 addition of a second room. Davidson said the Makerspace will continue to give away earplugs and offer the use of ear defenders within the space.

Hogan said the Makerspace is used by a significant portion of the college’s student body. In the 2024-2025 academic year, Makerspace ID-scans recorded a total of 4,781 walk-in visitors, including 1,006 unique users. Hogan said they had set a goal to increase the usage of the Makerspace by 20% for the 2024-2025 academic year, compared to the 2023-2024 academic year. Bailot said they achieved an increase of over 40%.

Kuo said the library was happy to have this partnership with the Makerspace and that makerspaces are traditionally hosted in libraries. The Tompkins County Public Library, for example, also operates a makerspace with a range of items. She said she hopes the Makerspace’s temporary presence in the library will bring more awareness to it when it returns to Friends Hall. 

“The Makerspace and the library … share a mission of providing access to services and learning and creativity,” Kuo said.