Scranton Products® Aria Partitions® Help Create the Template for Gender Neutral Restrooms at the University of Montana

The Background

As the state’s flagship academic institution, the University of Montana (UM) has spent the past 130 years dedicated to providing world-class learning experiences in the arts, sciences and trades.

Mostly recently, this commitment extended to the $8.5 million update of Eck Hall in Missoula, which has served as the college’s liberal arts building and one of the campus’s most active learning centers since 1953. Through the contributions of the Eck Family, the building now includes 25 classrooms with innovative teaching technology, a 120-seat auditorium, a new central building entrance on the famed Oval, three student and faculty engagement hubs, several ADA accessible restrooms, a new academic advising center and significant upgrades to the building’s sprinkler, electric, HVAC and internet infrastructure.

“As the primary home for UM’s humanities program, Eck Hall is the centerpiece of our university and serves the learning needs of thousands of students and faculty annually,” said Jameel Chaudhry, the college’s associate director of planning, design and construction.”

According to Chaudhry, other strong considerations surrounded the comfort, safety and privacy of an increasingly diverse student population. “We are dedicated to providing an engaged and vibrant experience to everyone that enters our campus,” explained Chaudhry. “The redesign of Eck Hall and subsequent remodeling of the first and second floor restrooms with gender neutral compartments was only the latest example of this effort, which will extend to each and every rebuilding project on campus for the foreseeable future.”