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by ANNE BAKER
News Editor
The Board of Trustees approved a plan at their March 6 meeting to demolish Mountaineer Apartments located on Bodenheimer Drive near the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center.
The demolition of the apartments will make way for a 400 to 500-bed residence hall intended for freshmen and sophomores.
The estimated completion date is fall 2011.
Currently,
the 90-unit complex houses approximately 100 nontraditional and
graduate students, with priority consideration given to married and
single-parent students, according to Appalachian State University’s
resource manual.
Housing
& Residence Life Director Tom L. Kane said the decision to demolish
the apartments was reached due to various factors.
The
recent development of Appalachian’s strategic plan calls for 40 percent
of students to be housed on campus, and currently, only 33 percent live
in on-campus residence halls, Kane said.
Because
additional land does not exist to build new residence halls, the
university has had to look at where space can best be utilized.
“We have had to look at the smallest residence halls and see where the most beds can be placed,” Kane said.
He also
said approximately one-fifth of the units in Mountaineer Apartments are
not in use due to problems with plumbing and other deficiencies;
therefore, it would be more efficient to demolish the apartments and
replace them with a larger housing unit.
Renovation
of the apartments is not an option because, “the renovation would cost
more than the apartments are worth,” Kane said.
The intended closure date of Mountaineer Apartments is May 2010.
The
university also plans to close Coffey Residence Hall around the same
time to make way for another 400 to 500-bed residence hall, Kane said.
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