The Zodiac Foyer and Gold Star Hall will be getting a facelift thanks to the efforts of some Iowa State alumni.

Work on the Gold Star Hall Restoration Project in the Memorial Union is more than just a restoration project for reunion class members.

Each year, the 50th-year reunion class designates a Class Gift Committee to select a project to improve the ISU campus. The committee, with the help of the ISU Foundation, then collects funds from the reunion class. This year’s class is the Class of 1943.

In 1993, the committee raised funds to restore the Zodiac Foyer and Gold Star Hall, where names of ISU students who have lost their lives in war have been engraved.

“(The 1943 reunion class) had a lot of strong feelings about the time,” said Mark Pankey, associate director of Annual Giving Programs. “They had a real strong tie because of the war.”

Pankey said one of the people who chaired the committee, Kay Munsen, lost her husband in World War II when his plane was shot down. “They wanted to do something at ISU to make people understand the feelings of the class.”

The project, which began in June, includes washing all walls, touching up the names and painting the ceiling to enhance its color. There will also be minor rebuilding and restoration of the stone. Also, work will be done to allow more light into the entrance. The project should be completed by the start of the fall session, said Maryjo Mertens, managing director of the Memorial Union.

The class gave nearly $43,000 to the project. Workers are nearing completion of the washing and painting of the walls and ceiling. The next step will be to have electricians do some rewiring.

In other news

The sculptures from the Four Seasons Fountain by Christian Petersen, on the north side of the Memorial Union, were removed for conservation last year.

The sculptures should be reinstalled by Nov. 1997, Mertens said.