Humberto Fabian
Staff Writer
Construction for a new residence hall is set to take place in the next four to six weeks at the University of La Verne.
As part of the 2020 strategic vision, the University has begun to put phase one of their master plan in motion that looks at the future facility and technology needs for the University.
The building will be located in the southeast corner of the campus behind the Campus Center.
A portion of parking lot “D” and the south quad will be utilized for the structure.
The five-story resident hall will house roughly 398 beds.
It will look similar to Vista La Verne in terms of design, but with plans for a more communal living environment said Donna Redman, a member of the faculty space committee.
“Open living gives students an opportunity to interact with other people because when they’re in their own little space, everything is contained and we just discovered that a lot of the students don’t feel like they’re getting that community feeling,” Redman said.
In addition to the new dorms, a three-story dining and campus event facility area will also be integrated inside the building.
The first floor will be exclusively for dining, cafeteria and lounging purposes, which opens up to a plaza that will allow for students to lounge outdoors.
The second floor will be an extension to the dining area below following the third floor that will be occupied for campus-wide services, such as meeting and seminar spaces.
Vice President of Facilities and Technology Services Clive Houston-Brown said the addition of the new building will eliminate the need for both Brandt and Stu-Han dorms and students living at the Sheraton Hotel.
“Stu-Han is at end of life in terms of its usefulness as a building,” said Houston-Brown.
“It will cost too much to renovate it. Brandt will be taken offline once the new beds are in place; the intent is for everyone to live on campus.”
A resident parking lot will take the place of Stu-Han followed by a multicultural interfaith spirituality center that will replace both Brandt and the Chapel.
Sophomore criminology major Baily Boschi says the new dorms will benefit the University. However, she is worried about the future of green spaces around campus.
“The green space is my favorite,” Boschi said. “I do not like the idea of ruining part of the campus that helped me fall in love with this university. It’s not fair to take that place away from students.”
Houston-Brown said they are planning on creating more green spaces around campus in the near future, which is all part of the master plan.
“So long term, we’re looking to take the football stadium and move it to campus west and that whole area will become a couple of academic buildings and huge open green spaces for students to gather and do events and things like that,” he said.
The new residence hall is scheduled to open August 2018.
Humberto Fabian can be reached at humberto.fabian@laverne.edu.
