Legends transformed into student study space and lounge
The inside of Legends. Due to COVID-19, the Office of Student Affairs has transformed the space into a space for students to study.
October 21, 2020
Students type away next to newly installed charger ports. Soft hip-hop and jazz music plays quietly over the PA system. The lights are tuned to a hazy purple, and the clink of pool balls can be heard amongst cheerful student conversations.
The venue Legends, which has hosted practiced musicians like Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Saba, Magic Giant, Luke Combs, Doja Cat, Electric Jelly Funk and Foxy Moron, is now a student study space.
Legends is open to the staff and students at App State for study hall on Mondays through Thursdays from 11a.m. – 11p.m. and 11a.m. – 9 p.m. on Fridays. The venue has once again become a popular place for on-campus students to visit, only this time without live music or events.
Alexis Simpson, Legend’s evening and weekend coordinator, said the venue would normally host club events, put acts up on stage and be an asset to the Appalachian Popular Programming Society office.
However, the Office of Academic Affairs briefly planned to use Legends as a classroom until it decided that Legends was not fit to be a classroom.
“Since that’s all we did with the space, we couldn’t use Legends for its purpose as a club and entertainment venue. It’s not a classroom type of vibe because of how it looks with the DJ booth, stage and bar there,” Simpson said.
Simpson said the team decided to make it into a student lounge because of the recreational materials the venue already had.
“Since all the freshmen will be on campus in the union, library or mess halls, Legends could provide another space for those students to maintain their distance from each other, and not cluster within the few indoor study spaces that very quickly become populated,” Simpson said.
Over the summer, Simpson brainstormed ideas that would help Legends become a popular lounge and study area on East Campus. Students have access to new electronic charging hubs, and more are likely playing pool or eating snacks with their friends close by.
“I’m glad now to see that more people are using the pool tables, darts and cornhole. Not many people knew it was open at the beginning of the semester,” Simpson said. “I think the signs and social media posts really drew more traffic in. I’m glad to hear and see that more people are enjoying it.”
According to Simpson, student supervisors clean the space regularly and provide students access to game equipment upon request.
Since the Office of Student Engagement renovated the venue, students have discovered the perks of studying at Legends.
“It’s not as crowded as (the union) and the library. It’s super fun to hangout here,” Quinn Roberts said, a freshman molecular biology major.
Freshman Tomas Delgedo heard about the Legends study space through Instagram and took advantage of the social distanced study space.
“I’m here like every other day. I use the space because there’s always plenty of places where I can sit to write my scripts here for my television scriptwriting class,” Delgado said. “It’s nice having people around to chat with if I’m taking a break too.”
Studying online and submitting assignments is conveniently done over the WiFi at Legends. During downtime, students socialize at their leisure later on the weekdays.
“Legends is the only place that’s open to 11 p.m. on the weekends on campus. We love playing darts here too,” said Baneen Al Nafiee, a healthcare management major.
Montana Mills, the head student supervisor at Legends said she believes the new study space has been a success.
“I’m glad that we can keep this place running smoothly during this period,” Mills said. “It’s a great place to work, and it’s nice to see students taking advantage of what my bosses have put in place.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Legends was open from 11a.m. – 8 p.m. on weekends. The error has been corrected.
