More than 70 McMaster employees gathered in Gilmour Hall on August 16 for the grand opening ceremony of the new employee lounge.

Complete with food, refreshments and what has become the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, employees gathered in Gilmour Hall B106 to celebrate the renovation. The opening of the Gilmour Hall employee lounge brings the number of new or renovated lounges to nine since the summer of 2001 and those gathered were told that “more were to come” by Karen Belaire, vice-president administration, during the dedication ceremony.

Belaire later remarked that “it is very satisfying to see such results arising from the commitment of employee volunteers like the Lounge Steering Committee who ensure the renovations are done, and the lounge stewards who volunteer to ensure that the space in all of these lounges remains in good shape. I think the improvements made to these spaces are an excellent investment in the quality of work life for all McMaster employees.” It appears the budget committee agrees as they have once again approved funding for employee lounge improvements for this fiscal year.

“I just love it,” said Sandy Richard from the Faculty of Humanities. “I really appreciate the fact that the lounge committee took my recommendations seriously regarding the design.” Sandy's lunch partner, Arlene Duncan of the Bertrand Russell Research Centre, nodded in agreement. Steve Goertz, Media Production Services said “It's a nice space, I like it.”

As with the previous employee lounges, the renovations were facilitated by the Working at McMaster' Employee Lounges Steering Committee. Its mandate is to audit space, develop locations and oversee renovations in keeping with the general design guidelines which were developed about three years ago. The work was done by McMaster's physical plant employees under the direction of Peter Whitaker.

Current members of the Employee Lounges Steering Committee include Leah Allen (chair), Department of Chemistry; Linda Axford, University planner, Ingrid Ellis, Facilities Management, Health Sciences; David Kidney, Audio-Visual Services; Deanna Maerz, Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Muriel McKay, Learning and Technologies Resources Centre; and Stephen Shurvin, Physical Plant.

For more information about the Working at McMaster' Employee Lounges Steering Committee, visit the Employee Lounges Web Page.

Photo caption: A ribbon cutting ceremony officially opened the Glmour Hall employee lounge Monday. Pictured at the event, from left, are Stephen Shurvin, Dave Kidney, Rosita Jordan, Karen Belaire, Linda Axford, Janis Weir, Muriel McKay, Maureen Bentley, Lou Hale, Mani Arratia and Karen Slonim.