Out with the old, In with the new

Final preparations for starting construction on the new residence halls at the Centennial Center and West Campus are under way.

This week legal and financial matters are being settled among housing authorities and attorneys, as students in Parkhurst are deciding where to relocate to next semester.

“This thing is extremely complex,” said Dr. Jahr, Assistant Vice-President for Student Affairs. “Hopefully, in the next four to six weeks all the required due diligence will be done.”

Once ground leases are approved and signed by people such as Governor Roy Barnes and Secretary of State Cathy Cox, the tax-exempt bonds that will pay for the housing can be issued to institutions or to individuals in increments of approximately $5,000.

Seventy-four million dollars is needed in bonds to build the new suite- and apartment-style buildings that, when completed, will hold about 2,000 beds combined.

GC&SU is the first university in Georgia to finance its residence halls through tax-exempt bonds.

Dr. Harshbarger, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, said, “We looked at other schools in North Carolina who are financing their housing this way and thought it was a smart idea.”

GC&SU is also one of the few universities to have housing owned by an outside institution but managed by the campus.

Harshbarger said, “Most schools have private companies building and managing their housing, but since the housing is a key part of our mission, that system won’t fit. GC&SU will manage all residence halls.”

Although the plans to demolish came quickly and have disturbed some students, the new residence halls will bring many changes to campus that students can look forward to.

Transportation will be extended to the West Campus.

Harshbarger said, “When the apartments at West Complex are built, a much more expanded service of shuttle buses will run at least 18 hours a day.”

Jahr noted some changes in the set up of the residence halls.

Jahr said, “We have been constrained by having to have one gender on each floor. When everything moves to suites, we are no longer bound by gender-specific floors.”

There are also ideas to group students in special interest housing, similar to learning communities that exist at other campuses.

“The mission is to become more of a residential campus,” said Harshbarger.

And to enhance this mission, as of Fall 2003, all new students will be required to live on campus with some exceptions, such as age or marital status.

In the weeks to follow, the final phasing terms of the construction will be decided. All authorities involved are making sure the construction affects students as little as possible.

Harshbarger said, “We are negotiating phasing so there will never be fewer beds than there are now. We are also trying to minimize the noise.”

Students can be expected to be kept up to date.

Jahr said, “As we get more information, we will have more general meetings with the campus community.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 2 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