The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Dorms slated for big change

Every 10 to 15 years UVM and Residential Life creates a Housing Master Plan to strategize for the housing demand of students.The Housing Master Plan looks at housing in the broadest way possible, director of residential life Stacy Miller said. Some of the main changes include tearing down housing on Redstone and Central campuses and building more student housing in their place and on Athletic.?We are looking at housing for on-campus students, upper-class students and graduate students,? Miller said. ?The comprehensive Housing Master Plan helps us plan how we can renovate, upgrade and accommodate for current classes and for future classes coming to UVM.?UVM hired the contracting company Biddison Hier to help provide resource planning and management services, director of capital planning and management Bob Vaughan said. ?It wasn?t just ?come here and give us a master plan?,? Vaughan said. ?This has been a long effort on their part.?Over the course of the last year, Biddison Hier has been gathering data, conducting interviews and surveys of students, and assessing the existing facilities, Vaughan said.Based on their research, Miller said Biddison Hier made recommendations that were approved by President Thomas Sullivan and endorsed by the board of trustees in their February meeting. ?One of the biggest recommendations was to get first-years out of Trinity and make it into a graduate student dorm,? Vaughan said.Trinity would be repurposed to resemble suites, which would include removing triples, improving bathrooms and adding elevators, he said.Miller said that even though Trinity is not necessarily farther away, its location does make it feel farther away for students.?We do recognize that where Trinity is located might not be the best location for undergraduates and we should move them closer to campus,? Miller said. ?Maybe that would be an ideal place for graduate students that don?t mind feeling further away and would enjoy being closer to Downtown.? According to the plan, first-year students would be housed on Athletic and Central, while sophomores would be placed exclusively on Redstone. The idea is to get first-year students out of Trinity and Redstone and pull them in the central core of campus to provide that extra focus of support, Vaughan said.In addition, the plan recommends removing and replacing Chittenden, Buckham and Wills Halls on Central Campus and Coolidge Hall on Redstone, and constructing a new building behind Harris-Millis Halls. Coolidge and CBW were built in the 1940s with poured concrete, making them difficult to restructure, Vaughan said.With the moisture problems and small rooms, it is more cost-effective to remove them and replace them, he said.The three new buildings on Central and Athletic campuses would help keep the existing number of beds without further adding to the number of students currently living on campus.The new residential hall that would replace CBW would also have a dining hall, Vaughan said.?The ultimate desire for Cook Commons is to become part of Billings,? he said. The Master Housing Plan would be the first project the University uses a third party to build facilities for first and second year students.?We currently have money to do some things,? Miller said. ?But some of the loftier parts of the plan need funding.? Unlike previous building projects, the new residential halls may not be financed by University capital, Vaughan said. ?We are not looking to build our own residence halls any longer,? Vaughan said. ?We just don?t have the capital.?The new residential complexes are likely to still be managed by Residential Life but the University plans to make third party arrangements similar to the Redstone Lofts and Redstone apartments, he said. ?They didn?t use our money, they used their developers money,? he said.The halls would be similar to the Lofts in the sense of being paid in a lease arrangement or a fee and then house our students there, Vaughan said.?You end up contracting with someone for a very long time, the ground lease for the Redstone Lofts is for 49 years,? he said. ?It is going to be a long association with whoever is chosen and you are going to have a relation with that entity for almost 50 years.? Since the Master Housing Plan is looking into the future, it is probably unlikely that current students will see these changes, Miller said. ?Our Master Housing Plan is a way for us to look into the future and plan our resources to create facilities that students are happy with,? she said.

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Dorms slated for big change