The Justice

Thirty-three Ridgewood suites with four single rooms. opened this semester. Inside each suite is a private bathroom, kitchen and common area. Photo by Julian Agin-Liebes/the Justice

The University opened 33 suites in the new Ridgewood Quad for 131 juniors and seniors during the spring semester but left 11 suites unoccupied due to the ongoing construction of the new Shapiro Admissions Center, according to Interim Co-Director of Residence Life Jeremy Leiferman

Prior to July 2007, Ridgewood Quad housed 109 students. However, that quad was demolished to make way for an upgraded quad. The original Ridgewood Quad was considered dilapidated and the University decided to rebuild Ridgewood. The new Ridgewood has added an additional 75 beds compared to the old Ridgewood and will provide housing for 184 juniors and seniors once all the suites are opened.

Leiferman said the 11 suites that were not made available for this semester were the suites facing the construction area of the admissions center. The University opened more Ridgewood suites than originally expected. In an e-mail to the Justice, Leiferman wrote that the decision was "based upon student demand, and the majority of loud construction site work was scheduled to be completed at the Admissions project by January. The remaining suites that are not occupied have remained so, as they face directly on the construction site and may still be affected by noise and by dust from the site. While the anticipated noise is less than might be caused during the site work, there will still likely be some noise by the construction from trucks moving about the site and the continuing work."

"Students that are currently living in Ridgewood may be able to hear the construction noise on a loud construction day, but [ResLife] hoped to minimize the effects by not placing students facing the construction," Leiferman said. "The other 11 Ridgewood suites will be opened for [the fall 2009 semester] and students will be able to choose these rooms during the housing selection process this year."

In an e-mail to the Justice, Vice President for Capital Projects Dan Feldman wrote, "Any construction process involves some noise and disruption, the residents of the new Ridgewood Residence Halls should be shielded from most of that by the buildings themselves. Furthermore, the noisiest part of the construction process for the new Admissions Center, excavation, was already completed over the summer."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools