The Village residence halls finally opened their doors to students as promised at the beginning of this semester Aug. 8. Many of the students were content with the new living arrangement and unaware that bigger problems loomed around the corner.
Construction began on the eight-building residence community with space for 1,700 students. These are different from the other dorms on campus because they are arranged into a suite style. Students now have their own bedrooms and only two people to a bathroom, which is a plus to those who moved from The Hill or The Quad.
"The landscaping starts at 8 a.m. and wakes me up, but I have tried to learn to sleep through it," said Michael Pfeifier, a freshman in professional flight management who lives in Talon Hall. "Other than that, it is a nice place to live, but it is easy to tell that they rushed through the job to get it done."
Spectators and other publications claimed The Village would not be completed in time, and some students believe that is still true.
Rob McKinnell is the manager of the Housing Administrative Operations and explains the problem is that two buildings were originally scheduled to open later on in the semester. Instead of having students move twice, they made an agreement to have it open early and continue to work on the project with students living there.
"We made a list of students with broken windows and cracked tile and we are continuing to work to fix those problems," McKinnell said. "In terms of a timeline, I'm not sure when it will be finished, but the list is getting smaller each day. The feedback has been mostly postive from the students living there."
"X" marks the spot as spray paint lines cracked windows. Workers line the sidewalks as landscaping continues and detours block many entrances to the area. The Internet has been faulty for weeks.
"I work here at The Village, and we have had a big Internet problem, but it is being fixed," said Brad Garnett, an information technician. "But I believe we should see a lot of positive coming out of the Internet soon."
Technicians are working to get the Internet fixed and the many broken windows are being replaced, but it is not as fast as the students would like.
"My friends and I have had internet problems and it just cuts in and out all the time," said Maya Pressley, a freshman in communication. "It can be frustrating when you are trying to complete assignments for class."
Other students' only complaints are about the lack of parking. Students who didn't win the parking lottery have to walk from the auxiliary lot.
"The location is terrible," said Jon Wyble, an undeclared freshman living in Talon Hall. "It's the longest walk I think anybody has on campus."
But even with all the kinks in the opening of The Village, some of the feedback continues to be positive.
"I enjoy living here," said William Wise, a freshman in aerospace engineering. "The Internet does cut in and out, but I think it is more of an overuse issue. I won the parking lottery and I get to park right in front of my dorm. It is an easy walk from campus and the pizza is awesome."
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