by Crystal Apilado
Staff Writer
University of La Verne students who have been assigned to live off campus at the Red Roof Inn, will have a home on campus next school year.
An additional housing structure will be added on to the Oaks residential hall. Construction is expected to begin at the end of April. The decision of which construction company will be building the structure is still being made. According to Brian Worley, director of facilities and management, the price of the new structure is ranged between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.
Students will stay at the Red Roof Inn at the beginning of the year and are expected to move in after construction is completed before the end of the fall semester 2000, or sooner. The new structure will be built between the A-building and the Arts Building.
With more students moving on campus, pressure is expected to be put on the already tight parking situation. So in addition to the new structure, additional parking spaces will also be constructed. According to Worley, a new parking lot will be added at the corner of E and First streets. It is expected to add 35 new spaces. There will also be 18 more spaces added, north of the Oaks complex across the alley in the empty dirt lot.
Being one of the most popular residential halls, the existing Oaks design is being modified to fit more students into the new building. According to Julie Thurman Francisco, director of housing and residential life, the existing design houses an average of 18 students a floor and 36 students a building, fitting 162 students total. The new structure is expected to add 57 more students.
“We are working toward the capacity size we have now,” said Thurman Francisco, “It will help relieve demand for on-campus housing, but it will still be tight.”
Some of the modifications to the new building include another floor. The building is planned to be three stories tall.
“The first floor will be submerged halfway into the ground like Miller or Founder’s,” said Worley.
Along with a third floor, the new building will also have many other changes. There will be no study rooms built in the new building and the absence of cupboards in the lounge area. The lounges will be build smaller compared to the existing ones. The air condition and heating systems will also be “modified to work better.”
Besides the construction of a new building, the existing Oaks structures will undergo a facelift this summer as well. An additional double room will be added onto some floors. Some of the single rooms will be expanded to doubles also. These new spaces will be available next semester.
“We’re hearing that students need more space. We’re trying to service them and give them more options,” said Thurman Francisco.
An in-depth study is being done on the housing situation at ULV. Ira Fink Association Inc. is doing a housing survey. ULV students should turn them in by today.
According to both Thurman Francisco and Worley, the results of the housing survey are important because they will help determine if a new residence hall is or is not needed; the size of the hall will be determined from the survey. A final decision that will be made from the results of the survey is whether or not the Stu-Han residence hall should undergo modifications or if it should be torn down and replaced with a new residence hall.
