By Jordan R. Mayblum

Construction is moving along steadily on the western edge of campus on North Hall, which is a three-floor residence hall with a parking garage underneath. The $9 million project fea- tures 103 student beds, as well as 74 underground parking spaces that will be exclusively for students.

The residence hall will be a suite style dormitory with two double bedrooms sharing a bathroom. However, “It’s a little bit of a departure from East, West, and Rockwell,” said Tom Koerber, Director of Plant Operations and Public Safety. Unlike those residence halls, North Hall will feature two rooms with an adjoining common room. The bath- room in each suite will be to one side rather than between the two rooms, as is the case in the three existing buildings.

Work on the project got underway immediately following last year’s gradu- ation with the digging out of the parking garage. According to Koerber, much needed to be done before students returned for the start of the school year. “We’re always in a race with time,” he said.

Once the garage was finished, construction on the residence hall could begin. Thanks in part to a mild winter, the construction has moved smoothly. Koerber said that efficiency drops with the temperature, but the lack of major precipitation has helped. The on-time arrival of structural steel was also a major boon to the efficiency of the project.

The target for completion of the project is mid-summer.

Metric Corporation, the same company that completed Rockwell, East, West, and Donahue, is responsible for the North Hall project.

Plans for the building have been in the works for several years, and North will complete the long-proposed Bragdon quad. According to Koerber, the planning stage is key in assuring the success of the project. “If you have good plans,” he said, “you’ll have a good project.”

Student rooms will be nearly identical in size to those in Rockwell, East and West. They will include closets attached to the wall on either side. The bathrooms will feature custom-made shower stalls that in- clude additional layers of fiberglass and plywood. Similar showers are in place in other buildings on campus, and there have been no problems, save for one incident that stemmed from student misuse.

The exterior of the new building will mimic the colors of the adjacent Yamawaki Art and Cultural Center and everything at- tached to the building will be brick. The parking lot that currently occupies the area between North Hall and its neighboring buildings will be replaced by greenery simi- lar to the quad between East, West, McClel- land, and Van Winkle.

 

—This story first appeared in the February edition of The 1851 Chronicle—