Acorn

Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Drew Cranisky A student walks past the construction site for the new residence hall, while workers finish up the foundation of the new six-story building.

Big things are about to happen in the Tolley-Brown circle. Construction on the new residence hall is in full swing and will reach new heights within the next month, Director of Special Projects Mike Kopas said. "Things will be happening quickly from now on," he said. "The hardest part was coming out of the ground."

With cooperative weather over January, the contractors finished preliminary and in-ground work on the dormitory. "All the ground has been moved out," Kopas said. "Everything underground is complete. You can start seeing the progress now."

Aramark Capital Projects Manager James Hall said that the foundation will be done next week, and that block work would continue throughout spring. "It'll take about a month per floor," he said.

While most of the large soil moving has been done, Kopas said construction traffic will be "sporadic" and that while students should expect some heavy weeks, Public Safety will manage the traffic to affect the students as little as possible.

The six-story building has also been designed as a "green" building, with numerous efforts taken to "reduce the environmental footprint of it," Kopas said.

In order to prepare the geothermal elements of the new dorm, the contractors performed tests on the conductivity and other elements of the soil and will submit the plan for approval soon, Kopas said.

In addition, the new dormitory will feature reflective roofing materials, low-flow plumbing systems, more efficient electrical plans. "Its all about lowering consumption, to at least 20% below code standard," Kopas said. They've also proposed using slates made of 80% recycled rubber, and linoleum floors made of linseed flowers. "Its also about using renewable and recyclable sources," Kopas said.

Kopas also realized the dorm needs to be "user-friendly." "It's a smart building, it about making it well designed, good for the environment, cost effective, just all around smart," he said.

The opening of the dorm is still expected for Spring 2009, Kopas said. Since the residence hall is being funded through a bond, it will most likely be of historical signifigance to Drew, but the process of deciding the name of the suite-style dorm is still up in the air, Kopas said. "We haven't gotten to that point just yet."

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