The Arts building is undergoing renovation for the first time since its construction in the 1940s.

The building was for many decades the home of Faculty of Arts before the introduction of the College system in 2012. It is now part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), housing the School , Languages, Literature and Communication (SLLC) and that of Liberal and Performing Arts (SLPA).

Amidst all these changes, however, there had been no major renovations on the building constructed between 1941 and 1946 together with the Main Building and the College of Agriculture and Health Sciences.

Among major renovations ongoing, the building will get a new tiled roof, toilets, air conditioning, and a fresh coat of paint.

Robert Omudin, a custodian who has been working at Makerere since 1984, says this renovation includes the changing of polythene roofing beneath the tiles, which could leak during rains, and replacing it with ironic roof. He adds: “The toilet facilities were not sufficient to the members in the school, the toilets were built to serve only about 300 people but with the population increment of about 3000 members, other facilities have to be invented…”

Other buildings undergoing similar renovations include Mary Stuart Hall, the first girls’ hostel in Makerere University and Mitchell Hall which was constructed after the visit of a colonial administrator Philip Mitchell, who was the Governor of Uganda between 1935 and 1940.

Omudin adds that the last partial renovations were done in 2005.

Sunday Seezi, an employee in the college who joined university service in 2005, said this renovation will reduce toilet congestions, leakages in the roof during rains and improve conditions of studying in the lecture rooms.

Elvis Lubanga and Mutaawe Dan Bosco, both students in the college, are already excited, envisioning “the most beautiful college in Makerere University.”