After a week of removing brush and clearing ground, construction of the Senior Prototype Housing Project is scheduled to commence this week on lots adjacent to the Freeman Athletic Center. When completed, the site will consist of two houses, each divided into subunits with 24 bedrooms allotted between five housing groups.
“The idea is to maintain the look and feel of senior housing as it exists but to build more durable and energy efficient facilities,” said Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley. “Most of the existing houses were built without the idea that residents would be moving in and out every year.”
The new houses—one facing Warren Street, the other on Fountain Ave., will be completely furnished and include geothermal heating. These quarters in addition to those in the new upperclassman dorm on Fauver Field will allow the University to remove In Town from among the general housing options.
“Part of the Campus Master Plan, which this project is a part of, is to have more non-graduate students located in the region of campus around Fountain and Warren Street,” said Senior Housing Project Manager Rob Schmidt.
Depending on how the new facilities are received, the University will consider producing similar houses on an ongoing basis over the next decade.
“If students really like them, we might look in the future to gradually replace houses that are in disrepair,” Whaley said.
The prototypes have also inspired discussion of concentrating more students near the Athletic Center and converting Home Avenue into a mixed street with more houses for non-students (see general housing article above).
With 95 percent of design work completed, the prototypes’ exterior and basic floor plans look similar to existing wood-frame houses. In four of the five units, a downstairs area includes a kitchen that opens into a common room furnished with couches, chairs and tables. Adjacent to the kitchen is a single bedroom with its own full bathroom. The second floor contains four bedrooms and a bathroom area designed to alleviate congestion.
“What is really neat about the bathroom space is that it is arranged so that the toilet and shower are in separate rooms connected by a space with two sinks,” said Interim Director of Residential Life Maureen Isleib. “That way, four residents can be using it without getting in each other’s way.”
The fifth subunit is a flat on the bottom floor of the house facing Warren Street. The basic floor plan includes four bedrooms surrounding a kitchen and common room.
Unlike most existing senior houses, the new facilities will be more open, with no walls separating rooms in the common areas. The houses will include porches and balconies, though while the unique nature of senior housing makes it difficult to compare room spaces, the bedrooms in the prototype housing are moderately sized.
“Most rooms are 10 by 11 [feet] and some are a little bigger,” Schmidt said.
While these dimensions are similar to single rooms in the Butterfield and Williams Street complexes, most accommodations in wood-frame houses have between 120 and 160 sq. ft. of space. Some existing singles are even in excess of 200 sq. ft.
Despite the smaller quarters, the furnishings as well as the location have made the prototypes appealing to some prospective residents.
“Furnishing is a big plus,” said Smith Louis ’06. “I know some seniors who had a real hard time getting furniture for their place so it would be nice to not have to worry about it. Plus, the location is great, since it’s close to Freeman, Neon Deli and the Science Center.”
Aside from offering a prototype for future senior housing, the construction project will provide ResLife sufficient space to remove In Town from the housing lottery.
“The senior prototype houses and the Fauver complex are intended to replace In Town,” Whaley said. “There is a myth floating around that the Fauver complex is going to replace wood-frame houses but it just isn’t true.”
Whether or not the University builds more houses like the prototypes on Fountain will be determined by the popularity the units exhibit in the general room selection process as well as feedback from next year’s residents. Isleib said she is confident students will be pleased with the new accommodations.
“Between their location near the Athletic Center, the fact they are brand new and the selling point they include furniture, I feel confident [the prototypes] will go pretty quickly,” she said.
In order to meet student expectations, Schmidt met with members of the WSA in the fall of 2003 to judge what features the new houses should include.
“For me, the most important part with the prototypes was continuing the feel of existing wood-frames, with single bedrooms that are fairly large,” said Finance and Facilities Committee (FiFaC) Chair Nathan Victoria ’05. “Also making sure that they aren’t cookie cutter houses. They may be the same on the inside, but at least the outsides look different.”
While the prototypes maintain some continuity with senior housing, the lack of a finished product poses a problem for some rising-seniors.
“I would prefer living in an existing house because I don’t know what [the prototypes] really look like,” said Carlo Balane-Bolvar ’06. “The pictures look nice and they look okay, but I prefer something that I can actually see what I am getting.”
Victoria said he hopes to provide as much information to perspective residents as possible.
“As chair of FiFaC, I want to get as many displays around campus as possible so that people know what is happening with the prototypes,” he said.
At this point, the construction site consists of a pile of soil and construction equipment, but that will soon change. Excavation for foundation work should proceed at some point this week, though recent snowfall may postpone work.
“We are presently scheduled to proceed with site work and foundation activities,” Schmidt said. “Weather impacts have not been calculated at this point.”
Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of July, with the facility furnished and ready for students by the time they arrive on campus. For floor plans and architectural designs of the senior prototype houses, visit the Master Plan website at www.wesleyan.edu/masterplan.
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