Put $41 million, empty land, and Dallas Bauman together, andyou’ll get a new set of Graduate/Undergraduate apartments on Stony Brook.Four new residence halls are set to be built on the patch of land behind theUndergraduate Apartments (UGA) in an effort to accommodate the increased thedemand for housing on an already overcrowded campus.
‘?The percentage of new freshman, transfer, andcontinuing students has increased, and there is more and more demand forhousing,’ explained Dallas Bauman, the Asst. Vice President for CampusResidences.
Set to open for the Fall 2004 semester, the buildings willhouse 672 students, bringing the total living space in UGA and the newapartments to 1200 beds. The layout will be similar to UGA, but modified withkey improvements. Each suite will have five to six singles, two bathrooms, aliving room and dining area, and a kitchen. The larger handicap accessiblerooms on the first floor will function as doubles if the are left unoccupied.Housing costs are the same for all apartments.
Working with suggestions from the new residents at UGA,architects designed smaller bathrooms and larger kitchens in each suite. Otherimprovements include a commons with a computing center and multi-purposefacility.
‘?I really like the new housing. I live in a singlehere in UGA. I treasure the privacy I have, and also the roominess of thesuite is priceless,’ said senior Candice Nelson.
The all-single suites were planned to accommodate the manystudents who have opted for singles as juniors and seniors. Across the nation,colleges are responding to the demand for private rooms with new building andmore construction. The goal is to keep students active and involved in campuslife, Bauman said.
‘?There seem to be 2 separate phenomena in the country.One of the fastest growing universities, the University of Phoenix, providesonly online classes and doesn’t house students. On the other hand, youhave Universities that want to keep students on campus. There is no singlemeans of providing the undergraduate experience. We’re responding to thediversity,’ Bauman said.
The apartments will be open to juniors and seniors who havealready lived on campus. Students, however, remain skeptical of the projectedcompletion dates. ‘?The plan sounds good. But with the track record thatSB has with construction, it will take forever,’ said junior AgataRumprecht.
Despite past delays with the SAC and UGA, Bauman remainedoptimistic about the new construction. ‘?We just changed the plans for oneof the buildings, so that may be the last to finish, but it’s feasible tohave all four ready by the fall (2004),’ he said.
Increased traffic into the area has also raised concerns,with the narrow strip on road between Kelly dining hall and the Fannie BriceBuilding already causing problems for commuters and pedestrians alike.Architects are redesigning the roadways to accommodate more the greater trafficload.
New construction will not interfere with other renovationson campus, Bauman assured. Each project is separately funded and, ‘?wewill continue with the 10-year renovation cycle,’ he said. Therenovations for each existing building occur in the order that they were builtand renovated in previous years. The work takes place primarily in the summer,as not to impinge on residents during the school year.
The new apartments offer hope for the cluttered campus oflong waiting lists and crowded triples left unresolved into the Spring semester.As Nelson, a graduating student, put it, ‘?With two large bathrooms, afull kitchen and a large common area, you can’t get a better deal oncampus!’
