IN DEPTH: Living it up: Starving students and uncomfortable housing becoming things of the past at USU

With a new housing complex on the finishing stages of construction, improvements to the Marketplace, and a new parking terrace, USU Housing is nearing completion of a $40-million housing improvement project.

The new six-building Living and Learning Center, located just west of the Taggart Student Center, was the main thrust of the multimillion dollar campus housing improvement project.

The LLC was constructed to create additional on-campus housing that would provide a nicer housing option for students, USU Housing Executive Director Steve Jenson said.

“It certainly is the nicest option we have available,” Jenson said. “It’s something we’re very proud of and can offer to students. It should be the nicest housing anywhere in the intermountain west.”

Occupancy in the LLC is full in all buildings with the exception of Building B, which will remain empty this year to use for university recruiting purposes, Jenson said.

“Sometimes the university invites high school kids to come in for a campus experience to try to attract them to come to USU,” he said. “We try to use (the LLC) to promote USU.”

All buildings in the LLC are designated by a letter of the alphabet, starting with letter A and going through letter F. Jenson said these building names will remain for the time being, but will likely one day be renamed after a contributing donor.

Building A of the LLC is the central hub of activity in the student community, Jenson said. On the first floor, residents can pick up mail, watch videos in a large showroom complete with a drop-down projection screen and commercial grade kitchen, or rent time in a conference room for school projects, Jenson said.

Also on the first floor of Building A is a sample showroom of what suites in the LLC look like. The showroom is decorated by Bed, Bath & Beyond to give potential occupants a feel for the suites in the other buildings, Jenson said. The second floor of Building A looks identical to the floors in buildings B-F, with three suites to the floor, which houses 24 students.

Besides the three suites per floor, each floor is equipped with a laundry room with a trash shoot to the outside dumpster so students don’t have to haul their trash outside in the cold weather, Jenson said. On the bottom floor of buildings B-F is a communal living room with a fireplace, flat screen television and a community kitchen. Atop the winding staircase leading from the communal living room is a study loft with tables and chairs and private study room off to the side that students can rent out for group projects, Jenson said.

A suite in the LLC is comprised of two bathrooms and five bedrooms. The entrance to the suite opens to a living room that is fully furnished, as are all the rest of the rooms in the suite. A wood entertainment center with electrical outlets, Internet access ports and a DVD holder drawer fills one corner of the room, to provide residents with all the necessities they need, Jenson said.

On either side of the shared living room are shared doors that lead to the bedrooms and bathrooms. On one side there are two private bedrooms and one shared bedroom. All four residents share one bathroom, which includes two sinks and a vanity, Jenson said.

The opposite side of the suite looks similar but has two shared bedrooms and one shared bathroom.

Darin Stoker, freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, is a resident in the LLC. He said he started the semester living in Snow Hall in the Student Living Center but recently moved into the Leadership House building, Building F, of the LLC to live in a quieter environment. He said he is glad he made the change.

“It’s great,” Stoker said of the LLC. “It’s really nice and comfortable. All the stuff is new. The beds don’t make your back hurt. This is hands down better.”

Stoker said the only negative thing he has noticed about living in the LLC is the lack of a kitchen in each suite. He said he doesn’t like having to use the community kitchen.

The lack of kitchens in each suite is one of the more notable features of the LLC, Jenson said, but it was planned that way. The Marketplace, located on the second floor of the TSC, is the primary eating location for residents of the LLC. Included in the cost of the room are 10 meals a week at USU dining locations, but the meal plan can be upgraded.

Alan Anderson, executive director for USU Dining Services, said the Marketplace was originally built in conjunction with the LLC and was designed with the idea in mind to be an equally nice facility to what the LLC provided. But, LLC residents are not limited to eating just at the Marketplace.

“They do have other options available to them,” Anderson said. “They have the option to use the Junction or the Marketplace. The students who live in central campus can also use the Marketplace.”

Anderson said the food at both locations is good and said he tries to ensure students are eating food prepared by top chefs and that students are provided with a variety of eating options.

“There’s a challenge to create variety in one location,” he said. “If you eat in a five-star restaurant seven days a week, it will get old.”

“This year I have heard nothing but good reports about the quality of the food,” Jenson said.

The Marketplace was one critical element to the construction of the LLC, Jenson said. The second crucial piece was the construction of the new parking terrace on the far west side of campus.

The new parking terrace cuts into Old Main Hill and sits underneath two of the LLC buildings. The terrace boasts 600 parking stalls that are primarily used by LLC residents but can also be accessed by other students and visitors. Atop the parking terrace are two elevator access points where LLC residents can move between the residence buildings and the parking stalls.

All told, Jenson said the total cost of the project was estimated at $40 million, but he is glad the school decided to act on the project when they did because “building costs have shot through the roof.” Jenson said if the school were to start the project over now, it wouldn’t be able to afford it.

But was pumping $40 into additional housing, parking and dining services necessary?

Jenson said before the plans for the construction of the LLC went through, housing options across campus were not full.

“We weren’t full by any means,” Jenson said, “but we certainly had the demand for additional housing.”

The university hired educational institution consulting firm Anderson Strickler to evaluate the need for building additional housing. The firm surveyed more than 6,000 USU students, Jenson said, and the results “showed there was sufficient demand for building additional housing.”

The final plans for the LLC were approved, and the LLC was brought into existence, providing housing for nearly 400 more students and working as a recruitment tool for future USU students, Jenson said.

“It’s filling a niche we haven’t previously met,” Jenson said. “This is going to be a great addition to the university for many years to come.”

-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu