Harold William HalbertConstruction for the brand new West Residence Hall, set to open in the Fall of 2006, adjacent to Cabrini apartment complex (CAC),is scheduled to begin April 1, 2005. All residents who now park in the CAC lot will now have to resort to parking on Residential Boulevard or at the Dixon Center.
At a meeting held Monday, March 14, on the first floor of CAC, Residence Life Director George Stroud, Project Manager Tim Curns and Charlie Schaffner, the director of Public Safety, spoke of the conditions and plans that will take place in the next year of construction. Also present were area coordinators Tutaleni Asino, Rebecca Fegeley, and William Zimmerman, the assistant director of Residence Life, Laura Shapella, and nine students.
Stroud said that when the project is completed, the new residence hall will lie in between the CAC and houses six and seven, eliminating the front parking lot of the CAC, as well as the driveways of those houses. Wehn finished, Residential Boulevard will now start from the Eagle Road entrance behind the CAC, wrap around the CAC and the new hall, then follow in between houses six and seven as usual.
The new hall will be in suite style, containing double rooms including adjoining bathrooms with a kitchen in each floor. It will house mostly upper classmen, placing other classes there if necessary.
Current and future residents of these affected areas must prepare for construction noise from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and occasionally on Saturdays. If there is no parking around Residential Boulevard, students are not permitted to double-park or park on the grass. Those who do not obey these rules may have their cars ticketed $55 or towed. In addition to this, the back door to the CAC will be inaccessible.
The Eagle Road entrance will be completely cut off and guarded by a fence. A fence will also block off the current road between the CAC and the tennis courts.
Special acceptions for move-in and move-out days will also occur. Cars will be able to pull up when ready to load, and be shipped out as soon as it is loaded.
Senior educational studies major, and current CAC resident, Lyndsey Griffin, doesn’t understand why the school couldn’t have waited until May, the start of summer break. “There’s already, now, a huge problem for parking at the Dixon Center during the days for classes. I don’t understand how all these cars are supposed go there to park because they have nowhere else to park their cars,” she said.
Furious student and current CAC resident, Joe Crispino, a junior graphic design major, is opting to live off campus for his senior year. “I don’t wanna deal with this crap anymore,” he said. “My big deal is why do we pay 30 grand to not be able to park your car and pay a parking permit fee if we can’t park our car where the hell we are gonna live,” he said.
At the meeting, Schaffner offered small solutions to these big inconveniences. He said, “Public Safety will continue to offer the escort service from the Dixon Center to the Residences.” He also said there were talks of a possible parking garage, a valet service or restricting sophomore parking permits.
Many other questions were raised at the meeting about emergencies and the $25 parking fee. In case of a fire emergency, Schaffner said, if need be, fire fighters will cut through the fence. As for parking permit fees, students will not be reimbursed money because there is no way of knowing if they are parking on Residential Boulevard or at the Dixon Center.
Stroud also urged students to stay away from the construction area for two reasons: the first being because it is dangerous, and the second because it will be in violation of the policy with the construction company.
“I would recommend to anyone considering going here just to live off campus,” Crispino said.
Posted to the web by Ryan Norris
