All across the south end of the North Central College campus, evidence of the impending residence hall can be seen and heard. Talk of this new residence hall, which will be home to approximately 230 students next fall, is buzzing around campus and students have numerous opinions about it.
One common complaint that students have is the noise that comes with the construction. Some students in residence halls such as Patterson, Ward and Res/Rec expressed irritation about the clanging and booming of the construction that has become their alarm clock first thing in the morning.
“It used to be just the foundation, but now that they’re building it, it’s a lot louder,” said senior Robyn Norton, a resident in Res/Rec who has become familiar with the effects of the construction.
Mickey Richards, a senior who lives in Ward Hall, also said that she sees and hears the construction every day, as all her windows face it.
“We’re not entirely happy about it,” said Richards. She explained that the approximate eight hours of construction every day, which starts around 7:30 a.m., often produces a lot of noise. “When they do hammering and it echoes, it gets pretty loud.”
Besides residents, commuters have also been affected by the construction, which has resulted in an increase in traffic congestion and a loss of parking around the work area, such as the Merner Field House lot.
Richards explained that the roads around the area are torn up and strewn with rocks that make driving difficult. She also said that drivers have to pay special attention and be careful when they are driving in through the construction so that they don’t damage their cars.
“There’s always cars coming up,” Norton said. “It’s harder to cross the street and get up the hill. “Because my friend does live in Ward, I try to walk over there and see her and it’s just a little more difficult because there’s cars going through, and construction, and sometimes people yell at you.”
“There’s no construction on the sidewalks, yet they’re still blocked off,” said Richards. “It makes walking hard.”
Not only is the construction producing a lot of noise and disrupting traffic flow, but students say that it is also taking away some of the natural beauty on campus.
“We lost a really cool spot to sit on,” Richards said of a hill where she and her friends used to enjoy spending some down time. The hill was subsequently destroyed by construction. “It’s one less spot to hang out.”
One thing that other students have talked about with this new building is the speed with which it will officially open.
“Every time I leave in the morning I feel like there’s more on the building than the night before,” said Norton.
Norton also said that because this building is going up so quickly, students, parents and faculty are concerned about possible issues, such as water leakage or pipe issues, after this building has already experienced a main pipe burst and gas leak during construction.
While Richards agreed that this building is going up quickly, she questioned why construction did not start in summer 2014, when it would have been more convenient for everyone.
“If it was built in the summer, then people in Patterson and Ward wouldn’t have to deal with the construction,” she said. “I think it’s poor timing.”
“It doesn’t anger me or frustrate me,” Richards continued. “It’s just an annoyance most of the time.”
Despite the effect on students and possible concerns that some may have, they still maintain much excitement about the new hall.
Norton said that although the construction can become irritating and stressful to those on the south end of campus, not everyone feels these effects.
“I feel like for everyone else, it’s really exciting,” said Norton. “Everybody who’s a sophomore or junior is excited to live there and it’s not even built yet.”
“It’ll bring in a lot of students and it’ll alleviate a lot of the housing problems,” Richards said. She emphasized that it will be appealing to new students and parents who want newer rooms, as opposed to the older halls. “I think it’ll look really cool when it’s done.”
“It’s really going to set a precedent for how we’re going to continue to grow in the future,” Norton explained. “It’s really interesting for me to be graduating and seeing how much the school has grown just since my freshman year.” She concluded that… “everybody has high hopes.”
