Parkhurst: here one day, gone the next

Residents of Parkhurst apartments will have to be out of the residence hall by December 15, and will return to a different location.

A developer, Ambling Companies, Inc. was chosen for a project to construct new residence halls. There were four developers to choose from, and all of them suggested using the space where Parkhurst is currently located.

The late notice for the students is actually timely with consideration to how much notice the administration received.

Dr. Paul Jahr, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, said, “The final developer was selected in late September and official approval was just received last week.”

Kaycie Smith is a current resident of Parkhurst, and she is in disbelief about the announcement.

“I’m shocked. Why did they not tell us about this before we moved in. Now I have to find a new place to live and a new roommate,” said Smith.

Residents of Parkhurst will be compensated. A meeting was held on Monday to inform the residence about their options.

Max Allen, Executive Assistant to the President and Director of Public Relations, said, “Students living in Parkhurst apartments will be relocated at the end of the current semester. These students will be given first priority on available housing on campus, or be given the opportunity to opt out of their current housing contract without penalty. They will also receive first priority on the new housing next fall.”

The first phase of the new residence halls will be completed by fall semester 2002, and it will include 209 beds. The 56 residents of Parkhurst are guaranteed to be living in the new housing, unless they opt out of their contract.

The entire process will be lengthy with an end result of new apartment style residence halls.

“It is anticipated this process will take three years. The first phase of new housing is expected to be completed by next fall (August 2002). There will be about 400 suite beds on the Centennial Center area and about 200 apartments at West Campus,” Allen said. “All existing housing will eventually be replaced with the exception of Bell and Sanford Halls, which will be completely renovated.”

The process of having funds approved is lengthy. Georgia College & State University wanted the housing built as fast as possible.

“The Board of Regents needed to approve a ground lease on state land between the Georgia College & State University Foundation and Limited Liability Company (LLC) in order for the LLC to build new student housing for the university. This new housing will be built with tax exempt bonds. The bonds will be paid back through the collection of student rent for this new housing,” Allen said. “The Georgia College & State University Foundation approved the setup of a LLC during the summer. The Foundation wanted to help the university in this effort and decided that a LLC would be the best way to accomplish new housing as fast as possible.”

The Colonnade will keep readers up-to-date about the changes in the residence halls.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 19 2001. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry