East Campus dorm construction begins

Construction began last week on two new freshman residence halls, which will replace older dormitories such as Rodney and Dickinson halls in the future.

The $80 million project includes two buildings, called Building A and Building B, which will house 585 beds and 282 beds respectively, according to Alan Brangman, university architect and campus planner. The residence halls will look similar to those on Laird Campus, with communal bathrooms and a mix of double and single rooms, he said.

"The floorplan is very similar to the floorplan of Dickinson," Brangman said. "It is what is called a race track, which has the rooms going around in a doughnut shape with all of the bathrooms and lounges in the middle."

The new residence halls, slated for completion in the summer of 2013, will be exclusive to freshmen students. Incoming freshmen will still be able to list their preference between the communal-style residence halls on East Campus or suite-style residence halls in George Read for the fall semester, Brangman said.

The new residence halls will be comparably sized to rooms in George Read aside from the bathrooms, according to David Singleton, vice president of facilities and auxiliary services.

Singleton said Dickinson and Rodney halls will stay open until the new buildings are ready to accommodate incoming students.

"The tentative plan is that Rodney will remain in use through June of 2015. Dickinson would be a couple of years later," Singleton said. "But before we can close Rodney, we not only have to build the new buildings, we also will be doing a major renovation of Harrington which will happen from 2013-2015."

Brangman said his department is attempting to make renovations to the Harrington Residence Hall that will make the buildings appear like Russell.

Singleton said the construction plan for East Campus also includes building a new dining hall in place of the tennis courts across from Perkins Student Center, slated for completion in the summer 2015. It will hold more than 1,000 seats and will have residence rooms on upper floors, he said.

Kent Dining Hall will remain open after the new building is constructed, but may be used for different purposes that have yet to be determined, Brangman said. He also said there are no concrete plans to reconstruct the tennis courts in the area.

"We are probably going to look at re-purposing that dining hall," Brangman said. "That is still a decision that has yet to be made, though. We are not sure whether it will become a special purpose dining facility or turned over to student affairs to become a student lounge space."

Kathleen Kerr, director of Residence Life, said moving most of the freshman dorms to East Campus will make students' transition to college life easier.

"We want to create a freshman neighborhood for first year students," Kerr said. "It's all about helping the students acclimate to college life, transition, make adjustments, get connected to other students, make connections with the faculty members, dealing with roommate conflict."

Construction hours on East Campus are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and there will be little disruption to students, Brangman said.

Brangman said the construction has redirected local traffic patterns by closing off a pedestrian sidewalk that runs between Russell Hall and Haines Street.

Freshman Maddi Valinski said she enjoys living in a single room in Rodney Hall, but prefers the idea of the new residence halls.

She thinks it's helpful that the new dormitories have communal bathrooms because girls often socialize in that location.

"I think it will be much better for all the freshmen to be in one place because there won't be as much separation," Valinski said. "There is almost a rivalry between the freshmen about the different areas on campus and I think it will be cool to see how every connects in one area."

Sophomore Katie Johnson said she is not entirely happy with the plans because she frequently uses the tennis courts next to Kent Dining Hall.

She said there are no other tennis courts in nearby areas, which would make it more difficult to casually play a game with friends. The closest tennis court is located on Academy Street off the James Hall Trail, next to Ivy Hall Apartments.

"It's not that I don't want to exert the extra energy to walk to the Laird or Rodney courts, it's solely that I would rather not take that extra sliver of time out of my day," Johnson said. "I won't go as far as saying I won't play tennis anymore when this change occurs, I just won't be able to play as often as I'd like to."