Some Ohio University students moving into residence halls this fall may be the first to experience new renovations, including swipe access to more dorms.
Students will now be able to swipe their ID cards to get into the front doors of most residence halls thanks to a $1 million upgrade project.
“When (the project) finishes in August, the large majority of residence halls will have swipe/proximity card reader access versus physical key,” Pete Trentacoste, executive director of Housing and Residence Life, said in an email. “This improvement will enhance security and convenience for students in the residence halls that have been upgraded.”
The only residence halls that won’t be upgraded to swipe access and will remain on physical front door key access will be Scott Quad and the remaining back 12 residence halls on South Green, Trentacoste said.
Overall, Housing and Residence Life spent more than $7.7 million renovating bathrooms, furniture and lobbies in various residence halls over the summer. This figure is down from last summer’s renovations costs, which totaled about $12 million.
Though a variety of factors go into deciding which residence halls receive renovations during the summer, the strongest factor is usually the age and condition of the building, Trentacoste said.
South Green
The landscape on South Green looks different this fall as Cady Hall, Foster House and Brough House were demolished over the summer as part of the Back South Demolition Phase I project for about $1.6 million.
Those three residence halls were set to be demolished during summer 2015, but high demolition estimates caused the the Department of Housing and Residence Life to reevaluate its plan, according to a previous Post report. As a result, the buildings remained standing throughout the 2015-16 academic year.
The demolition of the residence halls is part of the Housing Master Plan, which calls for the construction of new halls on South Green and renovation of others.
In other upgrades to South Green, students in Crawford Hall will now be able use air conditioning units thanks to $800,000 fire and electrical upgrades.
The front porch on Crawford received repairs, True House received new carpet and the South Green mail room received renovations.
The total cost of residence hall renovations on South Green was more than $2.5 million.
West Green
James Hall received a few upgrades over the summer as the bathroom, plumbing and lobby were renovated for about $3.1 million. A kitchen and study space were also added for $99,000.
“In general, we are adding more kitchens on campus whenever possible,” Trentacoste said in an email. “Student feedback has been very positive toward kitchen availability in our new halls.”
This academic year, James Hall will have the highest percent of student athletes of all residence halls, according to a previous Post report.
The total cost of renovations to James Hall was more than $3.2 million.
Those projects are in addition to regular summer maintenance involving general repairs of rooms, Trentacoste said.
Though most of those projects will be completed when students move in, Trentacoste said he anticipates the addition of the James Hall kitchen might take longer.
“The lobby and bathrooms for James will be ready for move-in day, but the kitchen will likely be completed before the end of fall,” Trentacoste said in an email.
East Green
Bryan Hall saw renovations to the basement as well as carpet replacement, Scott Quad saw renovations to the shower drains and Washington Hall received room furniture upgrades, in addition to other minor updates.
The total cost of residence hall renovations on East Green was more than $970,000.
@megankhenry
