Johnson Hall (VCU)

Johnson Hall is the oldest residence hall at Virginia Commonwealth University. Built in 1915, it was originally a high priced apartment building. Each of its 11 floors (above the first floor lobby) contained four large apartments with all the appointments of the finest houses. VCU bought Johnson Hall in the 1950s and renovated the building into a residence hall while the school was still called Richmond Professional Institute. The only visible evidence of the original interior are the large round pillars in the main lobby.

Floor Setup

Johnson Hall features 12 floors. On the first floor there is a comfortable TV lounge that was renovated in the Summer of 2006. The renovation included the addition of multicolored walls and carpet, rolling easy chairs, the incorporation of an LCD Flat panel TV, cable set-up, and lastly the addition of a white dry-erase board.

The first floor also features a mail room with dedicated upperclassmen workers inside, a computer lab with several workstations, a printer that is dedicated for free student use (as long as paper is provided). There are also several snack machines, offices, and additional rooms in the sub corridor. There is also rumored to be a corridor that leads to the Franklin Street Gym.

Above the first level are 11 residential floors. Each floor is set up by gender, and is currently set as males on the 2nd floor, females on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th floors, males on the 7th, females on the 8th, alternating in this fashion until the 12th floor is reached.

Johnson Hall has one feature that is unique to the Community Style living that is seen in many residence halls, particularly VCU. On each floor there can be up to four single rooms. The single rooms may come with a closet, although most do not. These rooms are usually $500-$900 more than the standard double or triple occupancy rooms. The majority of rooms on a floor in Johnson are in the double occupancy style. There are also about 4 triple occupancy rooms on each floor in Johnson. Triple occupancy rooms are more spacious than the double occupancy rooms, however, there are a few cases in which a double occupancy room is closer to the size of an average triple occupancy room.

Rooms in Johnson are furnished by the University. The furniture includes, per person, one twin bunk bed, one dresser, one wardrobe or closet, one chair, and one computer desk. Students are allowed to bring or rent a microwave and/or a refrigerator. Because of the high-rise conditions, any other appliance that could produce heat is not allowed.

Johnson Hall features a community style living arrangement in which there are central hall bathrooms. Bathrooms feature six toilets, eight sinks, four showers, and one handicapped accessible tub. The dedicated cleaning staff cleans the bathrooms on each floor every day.

Johnson Hall also features a laundry room on each floor, operated through VCU's proprietary payment method of RamBucks. These laundry rooms feature two dryers and two washing machines. The large trash cans are located in this room as well.

Johnson Hall also has wireless and hard line internet, local phone service, and cable service. The building is fully air conditioned and heated (controlled centrally). There are four elevators in the building; two elevators go to the odd floors and two go to the even floors. There are multiple fire horns and strobes and sprinklers in the building, for fire protection.

Security

On each floor lives a Resident Assistant, usually an Upperclassman student, who sees to it that everything on the floor stays calm and is in order. The RA is responsible for the general safety of the residents and are also instrumental in helping students to adjust to the college atmosphere.

Drinking and smoking is prohibited inside Johnson Hall. There are also routine checks to see if students possess anything in their room that could be a fire hazard.

Cosmetic Changes

There are also quite a few cosmetic differences about Johnson Hall. Because it was an apartment building at one point in time, it still features the ornate decorations in some areas on the ceiling. Rooms also vary drastically in size from one another. In some rooms there are remnants of a closet or even a bathroom that were once part of the room(as noted by the ceiling cutaways located in the midsections of some walls). The windows are different than the majority of residence halls on the campus. Johnson Hall's windows lift upwards while the other halls' windows open outwards. Johnson is carpeted outside rooms and non-carpeted inside rooms.

External links

* [http://www.housing.vcu.edu/showcase/dormmain.asp?dormid=10 Johnson Hall] VCU Residential Life and Housing Statement of Johnson Hall
* [http://www.vcu.edu/maps/historic/acmaph/h_john/h_john.htm Johnson Hall] History