Groundwork has begun on a new campus housing facility behind Suttle Hall.
“The hall will be completed by August 2005, so students will be able to move in for the fall semester,” Ann Bailey, director of housing, said. “The hall will house male and female incoming freshmen. The setup in the co-ed hall will be very similar to the setup in Hull Hall and Smith Hall. All residents will be ‘card-readered’ off from each other.”
An official groundbreaking ceremony for the new dorm will be held at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 23.
The ceremony will be held on the actual construction site and at that time the name of the new residence hall will be announced , Bailey said.
The cost of the project, which comes close to $20 million, will be met by the rent of students living there over a 20-year period, said Ray Hayes, vice president for finance and administration.
“The revenue from rental to the students will go to pay education bonds issued and the residence hall will be paid off over 20 years,” Hayes said. “It’s basically a 20-year mortgage. We issue bonds through the Educational Building Corp.”
The new housing facility will add approximately 400 beds to on-campus housing and all will be in rooms with private bathrooms, Bailey said.
“A lot of campuses are going toward the private room with the private bathroom to compete with off-campus apartments,” Bailey said. “The idea is based on trying to give students what they want, including privacy, convenience and space.”
In 2003, the university brought in a consultant who works with universities on long range construction plans and compiled input from students and other constituencies involved to best meet the future needs and demands of on-campus housing, Bailey said.
The new rooms will be styled similarly to hotel rooms with a bathroom and closet near the door and living area further in, said Frederick Mock, assistant director of housing.
“The single-occupancy room dimensions will be 13 feet by 20 feet including the bathroom, and the double-occupancy rooms will be 14 feet by 28 feet,” Mock said. “Roughly two-thirds of the rooms will be single-occupancy.”
“The hall will contain many common space areas on each floor including kitchens, study rooms, leisure areas and laundry rooms,” Bailey said. “The facility will have parking around the perimeter with enough north-zone parking spots to accommodate all of the residents.”
The new building will be three stories tall and will consist of four wings that form a square, Mock said.
“The hall will have lobbies in three of the corners and the fourth corner, which will face the Sanderson Center, will be open,” Mock said. “The dorm will also contain brand new furniture and the larger model refrigerators that are currently in the other ‘re-modeled’ residence halls.”
Further plans include the construction of another dorm and the demolition of one as well, Bailey said.
“Next year we will put another building that is very similar [to the one being built now] on the Duggar/Hightower site for a similar number of male and female upperclassmen,” Bailey said. “We also plan to take Suttle Hall down in 2006.”