New senior housing to be constructed

Brian Farkas News Editor

Vassar College will begin construction on new Town House units in the coming months. This new housing, which will accommodate approximately 50 students, will alleviate the pressure that will be placed on the College’s housing due to the renovation of Davison House. Work on Davison will begin early in Summer 2008 and will keep the dormitory closed throughout the 2008-09 academic year.

These permanent units will provide additional upperclassmen housing even after all dormitary renovations are complete. The exteriors of the houses will be similar to those of the current Town Houses.

According to the most recent set of plans, two 10-person cooperatives and six five-person apartments will be constructed. The design of the co-op buildings allows for simple conversion into two adjoining apartments. The new housing will be built against the treeline at the end of the parking lot farthest from Prentiss Fields and behind the laundry facility.

Last year, former Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Abel McDonnell ’07, along with the Special Committee on Dormitory Renovations, lobbied the administration to recommend additional housing to the Board of Trustees. The trustees approved the construction during their May 2007 meeting.

“One of the issues affecting students the most is the prospect of a housing crunch,” said VSA Dormitory Renovations Coordinator Andrew Bennett ’09. “Closing Davison requires the conversion of large singles across campus into doubles. Every new room built will allow a single that would otherwise be converted to remain a single. The end result is that every new room we build keeps two students out of a double.” With 50 new beds in the Town Houses, 100 students who would otherwise be living in doubles next year will be in singles.

According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier, the cost of these buildings is not yet certain. “We have a working estimate, based on construction standards, but the project will be bid on by area contractors,” she said. “We are hoping the bids are competitive so that we stay within our budget estimate.”

Because these structures will be built across Raymond Avenue, they fall under the jurisdiction of the Town of Poughkeepsie. As such, the buildings were subject to a moratorium on new housing imposed by the Town Board. “The Board decided that these buildings were subject to that moratorium,” explained Eismeier. “However, we received a variance from the Town Board to proceed.”

Even so, the project still must go through a State Environmental Quality Review process conducted by the Town’s Planning Board. “We hope to receive approval in November or December, and then bid the work out as soon as possible,” said Eismeier.

Because of the renovations to Davison, members of the Class of 2011 will likely need roommates next year. “With the eventual closing of Davison and its 171 beds, I anticipate that all rising sophomores will be drawing into doubles,” said Director of Residential Life Luis Inoa.

“On-campus capacity is such that [rising] sophomores should think about finding a roommate,” said VSA Vice President for Student Life Morgan Warners ’08. “One of my top priorities right now is making sure that the rooms that will be made into doubles next year are actually big enough for that.”

Warners has been leading an effort to ensure that student concerns are well represented during the longer-term construction process. “I’ve been working as closely as possible with Dean of the College [Judy Jackson] and the Director of Residential Life [Inoa] on all renovations projects,” he said. “I’ve been pushing for displays of the plans to be put up across campus so everyone can see them.”

The exact configuration of the new Town Houses is still an issue. “I don’t think there is a clear programmatic vision for the cooperatives. They respond to a desire for more co-op housing, but I don’t think that this is the right site for that,” said Warners. “The new spaces are basically two [Town Houses] missing the wall between them. I think there’s more to co-op space than that. If we want co-ops to be successful, I think the physical spaces need to be geared toward a programmatic vision, but at the moment I think that vision is lacking.”

But Inoa believes that the co-ops will give students new housing options. “I see the co-op spaces providing an alternative for students who want to live in the apartment areas,” he said. “They will allow students to apply individually to the apartment area. At a minimum they will be cooking co-ops. At the end of last semester we surveyed the students, and over 250 students expressed interest in a residential meat-eating co-op.”

“I am thrilled about this new construction,” said Bennett, but expressed concern about how moving additional students across Raymond Avenue might alter the Vassar community. “I would love to see a building with a small fitness center, a lounge, and a multipurpose room, for example,” said Bennett. He also hopes the College will address the “lack of community space” in the plans.