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Trustees to vote on Quad renovation, steps for expanding student housing

Broun and Harper Residence Halls will be the first of the Quad dormitories to be renovated, if the resolution is approved by the Board of Trustees.
Broun and Harper Residence Halls will be the first of the Quad dormitories to be renovated, if the resolution is approved by the Board of Trustees.

Steps to update student housing will be on the table for the Auburn University Board of Trustees at its next meeting. The meeting will be the second in-person meeting for the Board since the start of the pandemic and is to be held at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center at 9 a.m. this Friday.

Quad renovations

The Board of Trustees will vote for final approval of renovations on Harper and Broun Residence Halls at this week's meeting. If approved, the renovation project for the two dorms, financed by Campus Housing funds and University Repair and Renovation funds, will cost $13.5 million.

As a result, Harper and Broun won't house any students for the upcoming school year, which is already reflected on the University's website.

The overhaul would replace mechanical, electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, doors and windows and improve utilities to better provide hot water to the residence halls before the start of the fall 2022 semester.

Renovations will also be made to make sure the residence halls meet current requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The renovations will be the first in a series of five phases. It is expected that two Quad residence halls will be restored each year until all 10 have been renovated.

The Board approved the initiation of the Quad Residence Halls Renovation Project at its July 9, 2020, meeting and approved Davis Architects to head up the design for the renovations at its Sept. 4, 2020, meeting.

Making way for more student housing

The Board will also vote on preliminary actions needed for the creation of new student housing on the Haley Concourse which will replace the aging Hill and Cambridge dormitories. Right now, the location for the proposed residence halls is occupied by the Early Learning Center, Marriage and Family Therapy Center and the Center for Health Ecology and Equity Research.

The resolution before the Board on Friday will relocate the three College of Human Sciences buildings to other locations on campus. The Dawson Building, located northwest of Jordan-Hare Stadium, will be renovated and eventually hold the Early Learning Center, if the resolution is approved. 

Details on future relocation for the Marriage and Family Therapy Center and Center for Health Ecology and Equity Research are not provided in the Board of Trustees’ materials.

Construction on the new residence halls is expected to begin in summer 2022.

The Board of Trustees voted in Sept. 2019 to start the process of creating new residence halls to replace The Hill residence halls and Cambridge.

University airport expansion

Trustees will also vote to initiate projects to expand the Auburn University Regional Airport, adding space to the existing maintenance hangar and creating a new hangar.

The project to expand the maintenance hangar, built in 2018, would add more maintenance space and administrative offices. 

The new T-hangar would be located at the airport's north ramp and have space for 10 aircraft, which the resolution says would be leased to commercial and private aircraft owners, serving as a potential source of future revenue.

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Evan Mealins | Editor-in-chief


Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.

@EvanMealins

ecm0060@auburn.edu


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