Otterbein's new dormitory at 25 W. Home St. has impressive numbers: 58,000 square feet, 200 students, three stories and two elevators.
The former Westerville Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, owned by Altercare, was purchased last July and is being reconstructed to house some of next year's sophomores, juniors and seniors. The estimated completion date is Aug. 1, 2008.
"About 50 percent of Otterbein's 3,100 students live on campus; the school wants to boost that number to at least 60 percent," according to a Columbus Dispatch article.
David L. Mead, vice president for business affairs, told the Dispatch, "The College is landlocked, and anytime we have an opportunity to expand it is worth our consideration."
"I anticipate 25 W. Home Street will be full next year because students tend to be interested in the suite-style halls," said Tracy Benner, director of Residence life.
"At this time, we are not planning to close other halls. With more available spaces on campus, we are planning to offer rooms in the traditional halls for purchase with less than the maximum number of occupants," added Benner. "By this, I mean we will offer double rooms as super singles, triples as super doubles and quads as super triples."
According to an Office of Residence Life publication, the new dorm will mainly be housing students in the nursing and education programs. Those students interested in environmental issues will also be considered.
According to the publication, "The new Living, Learning, Serving (LLS) community will give students the opportunity to live with others interested in the same academic area, to interact with departmental faculty within the residence hall and use a special resource room stocked with items of interest to their major, including periodicals." Otterbein students can expect the dormitory to resemble the Suites, said David Bell, director of physical plant and telecommunications. "The suite will be divided into two bedrooms, and the rooms will have one bathroom shared by four students."
Benner mentioned, "Just as suite-style costs more this year than the traditional halls, the same will be true next year."
"The building will also be fully sprinkled with a new fire alarm system," Bell added. Plans also include replacing the roof to achieve a more collegiate look.
A "Columbus Business First" article attributed the purchase of the new building to money taken from boarding fees. "Knowing that's where my money is going frustrates me. I already disagree with the fact that sophomores have to live on campus, and I didn't think my money was funding the purchase of new buildings," said sophomore Molly Fairchild. "With Otterbein being extremely expensive I wish they made us pay only what they needed while we are here."
Questions also are arising about the parking lot behind the new dormitory, which excludes 13 parking spaces from student use. Bell explained that the space is to store materials, tools and equipment, in addition to letting contractors have access to their vehicles.
"This is an inconvenience to those who have taken advantage of the new parking lot but it is a necessary part of the construction process," he said. "Having this extra parking lot is better than what we had last year, but it's unfortunate that they tempt us with the parking lot and then block some of it off," said Kristin Sutton, junior resident assistant and next year's hall director for Hanby Hall. "All I know is that next year is going to be horrendous with the additional 200 students parking there as well."
Prices for the rooms can be found at otterbein.edu/reslife. t&c;
