The construction on Auburn's new residence halls, The Village, is coming to an end in the coming months. The halls should open in August for residents to move in, adding 1,680 beds to Auburn's campus.
Students agree that they are ready, not only for construction to finish, but also to see what the new section of campus living will look like. Meagan Gibson, a senior in Graphic Design is among those waiting.
"We all know that construction on campus is a pain, but I am excited to see what The Village will be like," Gibson said.
Despite the inconvenience that The Village construction has caused in detours and traffic, summer campus life remains mostly undisturbed.
"There are less people in Auburn for the summer anyway, so even though there are often road blocks, traffic is OK." Gibson said.
Gibson said that she thinks she can speak for the majority of students in saying that the excitement of new residence halls outweighs the inconvenience of the construction.
"I want Auburn to keep growing and improving, even knowing that I won't be here to see all of the results," said Meagan.
Camp War Eagle has found ways of dealing with the construction, as well. Kelli Ledbetter, a junior majoring in Secondary Education and a Camp War Eagle counselor is making the best of the situation.
"Its made our routes harder. We have to go longer routes to get the places we need to go. It's not ideal, but we've adapted," Ledbetter said.
She also said that campers haven't noticed the construction and many have asked to go inside the new residence halls, unaware that construction is still taking place.
"We avoid all the construction so (the campers) aren't even around it that much," Ledbetter said.
Ashley Ahner, a senior majoring in Finance and a student recruiter for Auburn agrees that viewing the construction on campus positively is important and has found ways of getting around its inconvenience.
"People have to realize that buildings are always going to be going up. It's just life," Ahner said. "We need to be excited that Auburn is progressing."
Ahner gives tours to prospective Auburn students several times a week, and though construction is sometimes unavoidable, she thinks it is beneficial.
"Most people on the tours are really excited about construction because they realize that all the construction they see means the coming of facilities that they will get to take advantage of when they get here in a couple of years," Ahner said.
She said the only bad thing about construction on campus as far as undergraduate recruitment is concerned the confusing of driving onto campus and having to navigate the detours.
"Once the people get onto central campus, it's fine," Ahner said. "The campus tours don't cover the parts of campus that are under construction. We go up to the Eagle's Nest on top of Haley where they can see The Village Construction, but most students just get excited. I think we should have the same attitude."
The Village is located between South Donahue Drive and Wire Road and according to Auburn's Housing and Residence Life web page, the dorms will typically have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a communal living area and a mini-kitchen.
"To be honest, I am a little jealous of all the freshman who get to be the first class to live there," Gibson said.
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