An outside contractor will build four apartment buildings and a community center on Guilford campus by the beginning of the 2005 school year, pending the Board of Trustee’s approval.
The new dorm selection committee proposed building the new units adjacent to Ragsdale House, President Chabotar’s residence, in the wooded lot north of Milner.
The dorm would house 140 students. Residents would live in two-story, suite-style arrangements featuring four singles, two baths, a common room, and a kitchenette.
The apartments are being built to accommodate the influx of students Guilford anticipates in the next five years. The administration envisions enrollment growing from 1,250 to 1,446 traditional students.
“We want to have as many [students] as we can on-campus,” said Vice President of Enrollment Randy Doss on Sept. 24. Doss also cited major renovations in the near future as another reason for building new housing, suggesting that students may be shifted into the new apartments to facilitate dorm renovations.
To finance the estimated $6.5 million project, Guilford has accepted a bid from Birmingham-based developer Capstone Building Corp. Capstone will finance all construction costs. In return they will own the new housing and collect money from students who live there, though Campus Life will manage it.
The committee that selected the developer included Director of Facilities and Campus Services Jon Varnell, Vice President for Finance & Administration Jerry Boothby, Director of Alumni Relations Jerry Harrelson, Director of Information Technology and Services Leah Kraus, Dean of Campus Life Anne Lundquist, and Doss.
“The college would much rather build it ourselves, but our debt-structure won’t allow it,” said Doss.
Lundquist explained the contract with a developer as a lease on Guilford’s land; it is a way to convert land into money.
“We’re land-rich and money poor,” said Lundquist. The school could buy the housing from Capstone within 30 years, she added.
The Board of Trustees still must decide on approving the proposal. It is likely to be accepted, as the Board itself decided Guilford need more housing. The administration will submit the proposal Oct. 9.
Though the school has considered building new housing for several years, the decision to review bids from contractors was made only several months ago. In June the Board of Trustees met and agreed that the school needed additional housing. Developers submitted proposals through August. The decision to award Capstone with the contract was made the week of Sept. 20, and the proposal was announced to the student body on Sept. 27 in a community forum.
Doss, Lundquist, Varnell, and Boothby presented the plan, then fielded questions from the audience of about 20 students.
In the forum, sophomore AnnaMalia Ticknor, representing the student organization Forevergreen, submitted a proposal to the administration that the new housing be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified. The certification means that the buildings will comply with environmental guidelines set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Construction material, energy use, water efficiency, and indoor environmental quality are all taken into account.
The administration’s response was not optimistic. “I have a hard time imagining being able to afford that,” Varnell said. “There are a lot of tough decisions to make.”
Before the forum, Ticknor expressed her own doubts about the possibilities of the new housing receiving LEED certification. “I don’t know if there is a strong administrative commitment … for having this building certified,” she said
Junior Joanna Kelly, who lives in an apartment near the construction site, worried that the construction noise would be disturbing. Construction would begin at 8 a.m. and end by 6 p.m. daily.
“Shouldn’t you have warned people (who applied to live in the apartments)?” she asked Doss. “It’s not fair to us. I don’t want to live with construction noises.” Doss did not offer a response to her concerns.
Attendees also discussed the Program Committee, a group being established to make decisions about the new dorm. The committee will be made up of 10-12 people.
No decisions have been made about the members of the committee. It will probably include representatives from Campus Life, Maintenance, Buildings and Grounds, and Academic Affairs, as well as student senators.
“It needs to be representational. It needs to represent a lot of different groups,” Varnell said.
Some students worried that student opinions would be under-represented in the committee. Lundquist reassured students that any suggestions were welcome, and recommended attending a focus group on the project to be held sometime in the near future.
Students can express their opinions on the new housing project by meeting with Anne Lundquist, or by sending their letters to The Guilfordian. As construction gets underway, updates on the project will be posted on the developer’s website at www.capstonebuilding.com.