Ohio University officials are guaranteeing the new residence hall on South Green will be open Fall Quarter, but some students could find themselves temporarily in nearby Cady House if construction delays part of the building's completion.
The $24 million, 350-bed hall is divided into a larger A side and a smaller B side. The building will have the A side available for residents, and if construction falls behind, it will delay opening the B side, said Beverly Wyatt, director of housing.
Students scheduled to live in the B side of the new building will be temporarily housed in the 96-bed Cady House on South Green, Wyatt said.
Cady House will be available for students Fall Quarter only in the case of a delay and then will be taken offline to house student-athletes during Winter Intercession and host large conference groups later in the year. In the past, student-athletes that needed to remain on campus during Winter Intercession were housed in off-campus locations.
Designated as upperclassman and graduate housing, Cady House often loses residents Winter and Spring quarters, Wyatt said.
We're trying to be judicious with use of space and any costs savings we could garner
plus meet the needs of the athletic department as well she said.
Lincoln Hall, located on East Green, will be taken offline for the next academic year in order to renovate the building. Original plans slated Lincoln for temporary housing in the event of a construction delay, but Michael West, project manager for University Planning and Implementation, has decided that renovations need to begin on the building as soon as possible, Wyatt said.
Taking Lincoln Hall and Cady House offline will result in the total loss of 296 beds, but the addition of the 350-bed resident hall will stop any housing shortage that might occur, Wyatt said.
It's going to be tight but I think we'll be OK
Wyatt said.
After suffering weather-related setbacks Winter Quarter, the project remains on schedule, said Richard Shultz, director of implementation.
Winter was difficult
but right now we're on schedule
Shultz said. The big issue was the extreme cold; we managed to make up the time.
The building contains 24 Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant rooms and is designed to accommodate mobility problems. Older, non-renovated residence halls contain some rooms and entrances that are ADA-compliant, but the new residence hall will have the largest number of ADA-compliant rooms, said Pamela Drake, associate director of housing.
The hall is currently unnamed, but is being referred to by its address, 63 South Green Drive or as SG63, Wyatt said.
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