The new South Green residence hall, named after Ohio University’s 20th president Roderick J. McDavis broke ground in April 2024. The 591-bed, five-story facility will be ready for students to move in by August 2026.
Director for Housing Capital and Facilities Planning Chris Owens spoke about the current and future construction stages while keeping students in mind.
“We got that, the site prep, that took the summertime, that was noisy work,” Owens said. “We were intentional in maximizing on as much noisy work as we can during summer, winter breaks, when students aren’t here, to reduce impact to their experience.”
Owens said Housing and Residence Life has worked with contractors to understand the start and end times of when they will be on site. He said the contractors start at 8 a.m., which aims to be the least disturbing to students surrounding the construction site. Owens said part of the process included speaking with current students.
In the fall, 14 feet of dirt from Athens was brought to the site to provide elevation as the residence hall to be built within the 100-year flood plain.
“All the foundations have been poured, and we are vertical, meaning walls are going up. And we’re very excited about that,” Owens said. ”Later on this semester, you will see the hall will likely be under roof, which is very big.”
Owens said once the residence hall is under roof, work will begin on the inside details of the space.
Housing and Residence Life will also have a celebratory Beam Signing Ceremony event once the completion of McDavis Hall is underway. The date and time are still being finalized but the event is anticipated to be later in the spring semester.
The Ohio University Board of Trustees approved a $110.5 million investment for a Master Housing Plan, which includes the new residence hall. The construction and geographical location of a project this large is "very intentional,“ Owens said. He said building a 591-bed residence hall enhances the housing portfolio at OU.
“We engaged with stakeholders and students over the past few years to gather data and understand how to best support our students,” Owens said. “Moving forward, the data showed that this residence hall was one way that we can do that.”
The Housing Master Plan Live Stream is active from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, to show the progression and completion of McDavis Hall. Owens said the camera’s location was decided due to the intricacy of the construction site.
“Early on, we knew we wanted to tell our story. We wanted to tell as much of it as we could and be as transparent as we could, so we have a live cam,” Owens said. “There’s a lot of things going on, and that angle shows as much as we can with what’s going on to give that bird’s eye view.”
Jack Jacobs, a sophomore studying civil engineering, lives on South Green and spoke about the current construction of the new McDavis Hall.
“Every morning I wake up to the construction noises at like 8 a.m.,“ Jacobs said. "It’s really loud."
He added the pedestrian path he takes to Nelson Dining Hall has been muddy due to the construction, making his shoes dirty.
Wanase Phiri, a freshman studying communications and health services administration who lives in Pickering Hall on South Green, also spoke about the inconvenience of the mud near her dorm.
“Our road is really in shambles, and it’s been hard to walk on without getting shoes muddy, I remember move-in day, it was so chaotic to the point where I was wearing brand new shoes, which was my mistake,” Phiri said.
She also spoke about hearing the sounds of construction because of the proximity of her dorm and the work site.
“It’s definitely been an adjustment coming back from winter break and just coming back to the dorm and having to deal with that again,” Phiri said. “If I wasn’t taking early classes, I would be mad that I couldn’t sleep in.”
Owens spoke about the communication with residence hall staff within surrounding halls of the current construction to hear students' concerns or complaints.
“We check in with our hall staff on it,“ Owens said. "We work with them to make sure they’re informed and well, we want to make Ohio home, and we’re excited.”
