Starting next year, Frank Clement and Ellington residence halls will be torn down and replaced by a 544-bed facility.
Frank Clement and Ellington halls together house 284 people. The new facility that will replace them will include larger rooms, wardrobe-type closets, loft beds, flexible furniture, lounges and program rooms. “There will be no more built-in furniture,” said Bonnie Burchett, director of Housing and Residence Life.
Worries with temperature control will be a thing of the past, she said. Each room will be equipped with air conditioning and heat controls for those cold winter days that seem to creep in during the springtime.
Students will have access to their own bathrooms inside the suites, and suites will be designed to house two people to each room.
There will be elevators installed, along with a new walkway and a drive-through.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Burchett said. As of now, there is no name for the new facility, but the Housing and Residence Life office is looking for significant donations and ideas. The new facility is expected to be completed by December 2006.
Davis Apartments is also being renovated. Right now, work is being done to building A, including the installation of new air conditioning units, plumbing and new kitchen cabinets and windows. Also, the locks will be controlled by the occupants’ student ID cards.
Completion of the renovation process is expected by summer 2005.
“All halls are being renovated and getting the things they need,” Burchett said.
For students who want to live at Buccaneer Ridge, there will be 52 two-bedroom apartments added and a new gate at the front entrance.
There are also plans for a new community center, which will move the volleyball court across the street.
Starting time for this project will likely be later this fall, with completion slated for spring 2005.
The net gain of living space on campus is expected to increase to a 2,600 bed count.
“Certainly there is a demand, buildings are getting older, and we are building and renovating according to student demand,” Burchett said.
There are also more future halls in the works, with the expected tearing down of older halls within the next couple of years.
The cost for these new facilities will be higher, making other halls less expensive to live in.
“There is demand for on-campus housing, but the type is different from that in which we have,” Burchett said, “so we will improve students’ options of types of housing according to demand and budget.

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