Over time, over budget, and not finished: New residence hall opens for students but is not yet completed
After a year of construction delays and uncertainty about the completion of a new residence hall, Utah State University has finally opened the new Central Suites residence hall, a co-ed, suite-style hall.
However, most of the amenities have yet to be completed, and students can hear the buzz of saws and pounding of tools right below their beds.
Unfinished common area of the new Central Suites in Central Campus on Sunday, August 26, 2018. The building was anticipated to be open for the Fall 2018 semester. Though it was open in time for its incoming residents, there was construction still going on in many parts of the building.
“I think the new building will be worth the wait once everything is finished in a few months, but right now, I do not think it is,” said Jordan Price, who previously lived in Valley View Tower but is now among the first residents of Central Suites.
Moving into her new dorm Jordan Price, Utah State junior, makes her new bed in the Central Suites on Sunday, August 26, 2018. Price had lived in Valley View Towers, now closed, her freshman year. “I prefer the old towers over the new. I liked the carpet and there was a lot more space,” she said.
USU announced in February 2016 its intentions to demolish Valley View Tower and build a new dorm-style residence hall in central campus. Slated to be completed in time for the fall semester of 2017, construction was delayed after winter 2017 due to weather, tool theft and a lack of workers.
“It is a difficult construction market right now,” said Steve Jenson, the executive director of housing services. “It is hard to get sufficient help, and some of the materials were hard to come by as well.”
Jenson said that it was not USU who delayed construction, but the company who built the towers, Rimrock Construction, a Draper, Utah-based company that builds many types of residential, industrial and retail buildings.
The new Central Suites form stands north of the old Mountain View tower in central campus Sunday, August 26, 2018. Fences separate the two buildings due to the ongoing construction inside and out of the Central Suites.
Some of the amenities that were advertised in Central Suites included study rooms, exercise rooms, a theater room, and lounges with multiple pool and ping-pong tables.
“It is just a little annoying that none of the cool things that made me want to live there aren’t done yet,” Price said.
The outdoor amenities, which include a volleyball court and an outdoor projector screen in the firepit-lined courtyard, are expected to be completed by October, Jenson said.
“The plan is to finish within the next few weeks,” he said. On the other hand, Valley View Tower is now empty and is scheduled to be taken down in May 2018.
—carter.moore@aggiemail.usu.edu
@carterthegrreat