Construction on the Hill addressed at ORL forum

The Office of Residential Life held a forum last week to update
students on the progress of housing construction and renovation
projects on campus.

The Housing Information Forum took place Thursday at the North
Campus Auditorium and was organized jointly by ORL and the On
Campus Housing Council’s policy review board.

About 20 people, mainly student representatives from OCHC and
staff of project management and construction companies, attended
the forum.

The building of three new high-rise residence halls, Hedrick
Summit, Rieber West and Rieber Terrace, is scheduled to be finished
between 2005 and 2006. The new dormitories, which are planned to
house 1,986 additional students, mainly consist of 10-person suites
with single and double rooms with bathrooms shared between every
two rooms.

Jack Gibbons, the associate director of ORL, said one main
purpose of building new dormitories is that UCLA wants to adopt a
new policy in the future that guarantees freshmen four years of
hall residence instead of housing for the first two years.

He said the office decided to offer double and single rooms
instead of triples, as the feedback from a survey showed that
privacy is important to older students. He added that the rates of
the new housing are undecided at this stage.

The renovation of the first floor of Sproul, Hedrick and Rieber
Halls, which matches the design of existing dormitories to the ones
being built, is also in progress.

Sproul Hall’s first-floor renovation will be completed
soon, but ORL said Sproul’s front desk will stay at Covel
Commons until summer so students will not get confused about the
location.

Students attending the forum gave suggestions on mitigating the
construction.

Some residents may be frustrated by all the noise and
inconveniences they experience during the construction if they are
under the impression that the projects will only benefit freshmen
admitted for later years, said Sara Lin, the OCHC representative
from Hedrick Hall.

She suggested ORL should let everyone know the aims and purposes
of ongoing projects by putting up graphics and floor plan drawings
about the construction in residence halls.