Interior renovations are underway at the newly purchased 111 Lake Street house, which is planned to house students beginning Fall 2013.
Director of Residence Life, A.J. Nudo said the university purchased the house as an administrative decision to grow residence life.
“It’s easier to convert and make some quick beds out of it because it’s not like what we did with the MacDowell building which takes a lot of time.”
Nudo said workers will remove some walls, and add some, to make room for more beds and avoid a year-long construction process.
Like other off campus houses, such as Machell and the White House, Residence Life has advertised these room opportunities because it’s a convenient location for students who take classes at Passan Hall.
Traditionally, the university used the Lake Street properties or Machell to house upperclassmen, from sophomores to seniors.
“This year it’s a little different because due to the number of freshman brought into the university.”
Nudo said the building should be attractive to health science students.
“For juniors or seniors who have the majority of their classes at Passan Hall this maybe an attractive location to them because it’s just directly across the street,” said Nudo.
ALLY Student Coordinator, Hilary Hoover feels that living off campus gives students completing fieldwork and internships more freedom to come and go as they please.
“As a Speech-Language Pathology major, this makes my hectic 1:30-8:00 p.m. Monday class schedule so much more bearable because I can go home, change out my books and grab a cup of tea and still have time to spare.”
Hoover first heard about the new building at the first Open House in October. Growing up in the area, Hoover passed the 111 House so many times that she immediately recalled the fountain outside and the heart shaped space on the tree where a limb was cut.
“I always dreamed of what was like inside. Would it have a big staircase with a bannister to slide down? A big kitchen? A library? I can only dream.”
Nudo said as of now, there’s no official number of students that the 111 Lake Street house can accommodate. That is dependent upon the architect’s design.
“Hopefully as we continue to develop the renovation process, we can get a clearer number and let the students know the number of spots available.”
Hoover said that she hasn’t yet been inside the grand house, but wants to see what it looks like before renovations begin.
“I heard it has a gorgeous eat-in kitchen, which will be staying,” said Hoover.
Nudo said before students can move in,the space must be redesigned and upgraded to fit campus system standards.
“We have to put a fire alarm into the house, and access to the home, if it’s cards or keys. We have to make sure we update those areas that were used for other purposes,” said Nudo.
Nudo also said many rooms in the house are not currently designed to fit the requirements of a dormatory. For example, some rooms are just simply too large for that purpose.
“There are multiple areas so they have to be redesigned a little bit. We have to add a wall here or close a door off here because there’s two entry ways in the room.”
Nudo said student interested in living in the new house during the 2013-14 school year do not have to apply for the space in groups, as is required for other student housing accommodations.
“It’s not one group taking the entire house, it’s selected individually,” said Nudo.
Nudo expects the 111 Lake Street house will draw a positive response because anything new or renovated is intriguing to students.
“Hopefully there will be an excitement that we’re adding some more beds and student would want a quote on quote an off campus type of situation.”
Hoover thinks students should consider living in lower campus throughout their college career.
“Living in a house with your classmates is a really awesome experience, and I can’t understand why more people don’t do it.”