Construction to begin on building to replace Valley View
Say goodbye to floor-shared bathrooms and style from the ’60s, and say hello to modern, suite-style apartments designed for student interaction.
Construction of a five-story residence hall to replace Valley View Tower — Utah State University’s seven-story, all-women residence hall — will begin as early as May, said Ben Berrett, the director of USU Planning, Design and Construction.
The university has been planning to replace Valley View for months now, Berrett said. He said the tower, which was built in the late ’60s, has a failing infrastructure.
The building will be constructed on the soccer field adjacent to Mountain View Tower, the all-men version of Valley View, said resident life director Whitney Milligan. Valley View will remain standing for at least the 2016-2017 school year, Milligan said, but it will be demolished when the new building is complete.
Milligan has met with Method Studio, a Salt Lake architectural firm that designed the Caine Performance Hall and housing at USU Eastern, since June. She said plans for the new building are nearing completion, and have been designed with students in mind.
“We’re very intentional with how we designed the spaces in the building,” she said. “Research has been done internationally for decades about what kind of housing is in the best interest for student development and their connection to campus.”
Like Valley View, the building will have 380 beds, Milligan said. The housing will be suite-style, sleeping six to a suite, she said, and like the Living Learning Center, some rooms will be shared and some private. The building will house both men and women in separate suites, she said, so Utah State will no longer have all-female housing.
Each suite will have a kitchenette with a microwave and sink, Milligan said, and roommates will have personal miniature refrigerators rather than sharing a normal-sized one.
The suites will be small, but there will be large common spaces, which is an international trend in student housing that encourages student interaction, Milligan said. Ample opportunities for community involvement is one of Valley View’s best qualities, and she hopes the new design will retain that quality.
“We know the more students isolate themselves, the less likely they are to be successful, so we don’t want them hanging out in their suites all day,” she said. “Decades and decades of research show that when students are connected, they’re more likely to stay and eventually graduate.”
Common areas will include recreation tables, furniture, full kitchens, piano practice rooms, study rooms, a fitness center, a craft room and a large multipurpose room that could be used as a theater or classroom, Milligan said.
Outdoor common areas, she said, could include a courtyard, a fire pit, volleyball courts and covered bike racks.
Some students are wary about the new design, especially since Utah State will no longer have an all-female dorm for incoming freshmen.
“I like [the current] design of the building better,” said Cydney Knight, a freshman who lives in Valley View. “I like how there’s a tower just for boys and a tower just for girls. It feels a lot safer the first time you’re at school.”
Others are thrilled that the new building will give young men and women a chance to mingle.
“It’s nice to have a variety of friends,” said Emily Wood, a freshman who lives in Valley View. “When you’re living here there’s no opportunity to make friends of the opposite gender, so you’re like, well, I guess I’ll just sit here alone in my room forever.”
But the modern amenities and design aren’t without price, Milligan said. Valley View and Mountain View are the least expensive residence halls on campus. The USU website lists a shared room in either building for $1,045 per semester, but Milligan said some students pay as little as $850 per semester with scholarships.
The central campus building will go from being one of the least expensive residence halls to one of the most expensive, Milligan said.
Wood said she would pay the difference to live in the new building, but said Valley View isn’t that bad.
“Valley View isn’t a bad place to live. It’s one of those places where you would expect a freshman their first year of college to live in,” she said, “like a dorm where their walls feel like a prison and you can see pipes on the walls, you know what I mean? It’s not bad.”
Milligan believes the new building will be exactly what students need.
“We’re really excited about it,” she said. “It’s going to be beautiful; it’s going to be really good for students. We’ve really approached it with students first in mind.”
— melmo12@gmail.com