Residential Facilities officials are planning renovations that would dramatically alter the backyard of more than 700 on-campus students near the Washington Quad and change the hectic moving processes that bookend the academic year.
A complete overhaul of the quad area – a large concrete courtyard marked by fading basketball court paint and surrounded by South Hill dorms – has been in the works since 1997, after the university removed the basketball hoops from the quad. Since then, officials drafted a plan for a fully landscaped area with seating and recreational space for students.
Officials said work on the plan could begin as early as next year.
“As of now, the plan is to fill the old basketball courts with mostly green space,” said Jon Dooley, director of Residential Facilities. “Thoughtfully planned sidewalks will crisscross the area, and the current plan calls for a volleyball court and seating space under a pergola – a set of columns with boards across the top like the one outside Turner Hall.”
Other planned additions include an extra blue light emergency phone, improved lighting, new barbecue grills and a low brick wall surrounding the area, Dooley said.
The plan, which could cost more than $1 million, was conceived with input from a student survey and town hall meeting last year that revealed considerable support for the project, Dooley said. But despite the support, facilities staff will have to compile a final budget for the plan and address how to move students in and out of the dorms surrounding the quad at the start and end of the semester, Dooley said.
Twice a year, students and their families use the quad as an impromptu parking lot, leaving cars near dorm entrances as they carry belongings to and from their rooms. With some students’ families using multiple vehicles to move students in, the quad often becomes crowded.
If Residential Facilities were to landscape the quad according to its plan, it would drastically reduce the space available for parking during the few key days in August, December, January and May when students are moving in and out.
“I could see how this complicates things since people use the area as a giant parking lot,” said Brian Landon, a sophomore theater major who lives in a dorm facing the quad. “Renovation would be good, but they need to get it done right. Turning the square back into a basketball court might do more to foster community and would avoid the whole parking problem.”
Despite the skepticism, Dooley remained optimistic that the final plan would accommodate students’ needs.
“Our discussions on move-in and move-out so far have included Resident Life, campus police and emergency services,” Dooley said. “The sidewalk into the quad is also a fire lane, so there will definitely still be vehicle access. We have very clear requirements that we are working around.”
Others did not share Dooley’s optimism.
“It’s already enough of a hassle to move in and move out,” said Rachel Martinez, a sophomore English major who lives in Montgomery Hall. “We have a deadline to move in by and it’s hard to meet that deadline when you have to park halfway across campus.”
Still, Martinez supported the proposed renovation. “I’m not exactly a tree hugger, but I do like the idea of more grass in this area.”
Some students had no qualms with the proposed project, and had already bypassed the quad when they arrived in August.
“There is a way to get to the dorms without using the quad,” said Stephen Downey, a sophomore criminology and criminal justice major. “A lot of us parked our cars in an alley behind the dorms. It says no standing any time, but during move-in, that’s not really enforced.”
Contact reporter Alex Tilitz at tilitzdbk@gmail.com.
