Towering cranes and trucks are working west of the library between the baseball and softball fields, as the construction of Adelphi's fabled new fourteen million dollar residence hall continues.
The residence hall is being built by award winning contractor Fletcher Thompson, a Connecticut based firm that is working on projects at seven other universities, including Iona College and Fairfield University. According to Adelphi's Board of Trustees, Fletcher was selected because they had "the best proposal" that would meet the budget of building a new residence hall.
"The new residence hall will help Adelphi continue to attract and retain high caliber students who have their choice of quality schools." said Adelphi President Robert Scott at the groundbreaking ceremony this past June. The residence hall is the first construction project at Adelphi in seventeen years. "Students are interested in a full college experience and living on campus is part of that,." Scott added.
The residence hall will have 76 rooms for students including singles, doubles, and triples. Each room will have its own bath and there will be a kitchen area on the first floor, much like the other halls.
"The rooms in the residence hall will look like hotel rooms," said Jeff Kessler, Dean of Student Affairs.
On each of the building's three floors there will be a student lounge with multi-media capability. On the lower level will be part of Swirbul Library's rare book collection and archive. There will be air conditioning for the entire building like Eddy Hall, as opposed to Chapman, Earle, Linen and Waldo Halls which only have air conditioning on the fourth floors.
The new residence hall will also include public areas like the outdoor terrace that could expand for lectures and other academic gatherings. The ground floor common room will be able to hold all of the residence hall students and could be used as a social area. There will also be expansive landscaping, in keeping with the rest of the Adelphi campus. The courtyard will look like a garden, with tree-lined walkways and flower pots.
Construction will cost about $14 million with funds initially borrowed and repaid with money that will come from student fees.
Putting costs aside, students seem to be anxiously awaiting the opening of the residence hall.
"I know the rooms will each have their own bathrooms," said sophomore Jennifer Sloane, "I'm hoping to get one next year."
