HRL to construct new dormitory

Construction on a new residence hall will begin in November, with a new building set to open in August 2011.

The building, which is currently being referred to as Residential College Two, will be located near Butler Hall in place of the temporary classroom complex, said Todd Schill, assistant vice president for student affairs of housing and residence life. The residence hall, will hold approximately 260 beds, It will be similar to Wall Residential College and will feature suite-style rooms, study lounges and live-in faculty members.

Residence Hall Two has been in the works for more than four years. The university had originally scheduled construction to begin the week Hurricane Katrina hit.

“Now we are bringing the construction drawings back out, shaking them out, and proceeding four years later,” university architect Collette Creppell said.

There have been several changes made to the plans since 2005, Creppell said. The building will have to follow new building codes that didn’t exist in 2005. Also, Tulane now requires all new buildings to be LEED certified, meaning that the residence hall will be energy efficient, contain recycling facilities and be built from renewable and local sources.

The building will also reflect the results of a post-occupancy analysis of Wall based on student surveys regarding the building’s facilities. Finally, a new flood elevation requirement will require the building to be raised nine inches higher than originally planned.

At this point, it is unclear who will occupy the residence hall because it is not yet known how many students will require and desire on-campus housing in future years. Creppell said that right now it is planned to be 70 percent freshmen, 20 percent sophomores and 10 percent upperclassmen.

Schill said that there will probably be an application process similar to that of Wall. A committee will be formed this year to determine who will occupy the dorm and how it will be set up.

It is also unclear what the new dorm will mean for the future of the Modular Housing Complex, located behind the Reily Student Recreation Center.

“The new dormitory could end up being the replacement for Mod Quad,” Schill said. “However, Mod cannot be removed right now because of numbers. Nobody likes Mod, and there is no disagreement about that, but we need it right now because we need to be able to house as many students as possible.”

As part of a 10-year plan, several other residence halls are slated to be removed and replaced by newer facilities, including Irby, Phelps, Paterson and Aron.

Though construction will begin in November, it will stop during reading periods and finals to accommodate students, especially those living in Butler, Warren and Mayer.

“The new dorm will be great because it will help out with the current housing situation,” Residence Hall Association President Sean Dwyer said. “The noise of the construction may be a nuisance, but in the end it will be a great addition to the school. It will also help out the residence hall community because it will get more people involved, and it will bring more people into the community because it is closer to the rest of campus than Mod Quad.”