Dan Schryer
Contributing Writer
Of the two major construction projects going on around campus, talk of the new Science Center, has been the most prolific. Signs have been posted along the Sesquicentennial Walkway boasting the center’s many future classrooms and potential academic implementation. However, the construction of the other structure has largely remained shrouded in mystery.
Located across from Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium and next to Ward Residence Hall, this expanse of dirt and construction equipment is the future site of North Central College’s newest residence hall.
While it may seem as though the NCC campus is already packed with such structures, the development of the new Science Center urged the administrative side of campus to re-evaluate the capacity of the current dorm buildings. Sarah Avery, director of residence life on campus, attributed the planned Science Center construction as a major factor in the decision to carry out this project.
“Student Village will be going offline because that’s where the new science center is going to be located, so we’re going to lose that building likely next summer,” said Avery. “But we needed an action plan of where we’re going to make up those bed spaces.”
Noting also that the Peter and Paul Residence Hall will be used as a temporary office space for science professors during construction, Avery added, “There’s 58 beds in student village and 43 in Peter and Paul, so that’s a good chunk of rooms.”
Temporary housing necessities are nothing new to the school. “We have about 50 more students living on campus this fall than we did last fall, so as you can imagine, having not increased anything last year, we were able to use some nontraditional spaces,” said Avery. “Temporary triples were a thing that were done before, so we placed three students in what were typically two person rooms.” The triple rooms have since been disbanded Avery added.
Necessity wasn’t the only thing that factored into the decision to start construction: “In February we started planning what we would want from a new residence hall, so our office conducted a large survey where almost 400 students participated,” says Avery, “What we found was that 90 percent of the students who responded either wanted an apartment, suite or a single room.”
“We’re really excited about the opportunity of a building that is entirely based on student feedback and having the opportunity to build this type of building,” continued Avery.
Kimberly Sluis, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, agreed with the students’ sentiments regarding the new dormitory. “I think this is something nice for a student who’s looking for increased privacy as they’re going through their college experience, but still wants to live among friends,” remarked Sluis.
Sluis also hopes that the new housing option will encourage upperclassmen to remain on campus rather than seek out off-campus housing “I think if I were a student it would make me think twice about wanting to live off-campus,” said Sluis. “There’s this truth, I think, that campuses are best when the students are there more, and I think there’s something about having a critical mass of students on campus that makes it a more desirable place for everybody to be.”
The new building had to be structurally sound but also aesthetically pleasing in keeping with the visual tone of the campus.
Sluis emphasizes that the new building, much like the Res/Rec center, will “pick up certain elements of the buildings around it…so if you look at it carefully, you’ll see that it looks like Res/Rec, and it also looks a little bit like Patterson and Ward and Merner.”
The biggest hurdle the project must overcome is the city of Naperville itself. “The zoning regulations in Naperville require either four floors or fifty feet,” says Avery, “but it depends on where you measure that. That’s where we’re at right now, getting permission from the city, since we have passed the original zoning commission”
“We’re building a building there regardless,” remarked Sluis, “just how many floors and how tall it will be depends on the approval of city council.” The new, unnamed residence hall is slated to be open by fall of 2015.
Photo courtesy of Office of Student Affairs.
