With a long history dating back to before the Civil War, Main is the centerpiece of the Peace campus. This year the third and fourth floors of Main have been brought back as residence halls for the first time in three years.
Due to Main being one of the first residence halls at Peace, it was taken offline in order to update the building with much needed repairs. Main offers single and double rooms for any student. Unlike the other dorms on campus, Main does not have the suite style layout; instead it has communal bathrooms are located down the hall of each wing.
Moe Amengele, a fifth year student, currently lives in one of the single rooms on the fourth floor of Main. Having previously lived in Bingham, Ross, Finley, and even Main before, she has a good idea of how it compares to other dorms.
“It’s a central location,” Amengele said. “Public safety is right there, student accounts is there, IT, and Leggett Theater. It’s nice because I can leave the building and go directly to the gym right behind Main.”
Main may be in the heart of the campus,, but what about those communal bathrooms? Typically six people share two showers, two toilet stalls, and two sinks; however, Amengele is in a hall sharing with only three.
Moe explained one of the pros is that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the showers are cleaned and toilet paper, paper towels, and hand soap is resupplied. On the down side is the layout.
“The shower and toilet area are connected which is not good if someone has to use the bathroom while you are taking a shower,” said Amengele. “You have to come up with a shower schedule.”
Amengele’s favorite part about living in Main is its historical significance.
According to the university, after the Civil War, Main became the North Carolina headquarters for the freedmen’s bureau, which helped former slaves establish new lives. (More information about the history of Peace can be found at http://www.peace.edu/about_wpu/history.)
The safety aspect of the elevator in Main was another thing Amengele likes.
“If there is ever an emergency on campus I’m going to run to the elevator, it can be stopped in between floors,” she said. (Note: The elevator in Main is very old and really cool. If you haven’t seen it you should check it out).
Amengele said that having lived there as a freshman, ending up there again is pretty cool, though she doesn’t feel like much has changed.
“There were no real renovations,” she said, adding that it hasn’t been painted and the carpet had not been replaced, “unless replacing the dresser, desk & chair, and raising the shower heads is considered renovations.”
As one of the first group of students to live in Main again, does she think they made the right decision bringing it back as a dorm?
“Yes, but they should have really renovated things,” she said. “It was not completely move-in ready. Some things were not working.”
Yet she also said she would recommend living in Main to other students.
“You have private hallways that you can only get in if you live there,” she said. “Every hallway has a fire door, and you can always hear the RAs coming if they have to get into your hall.”