Purdue News
Purdue News
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Stately, state of the art:
Built from 1927 to 1941, the five units of Cary Quad have gone from being
the only men's residence hall on campus to the hall least requested by
residents applying to live on campus. |
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One reason is that two-thirds of Cary rooms are small rooms that house two. Larger rooms in the newer halls and other modern features - including every two rooms sharing a bath in the newest hall, Hillenbrand - are much more popular.
The declining popularity of Cary coupled with the age of the buildings has created a challenge for staff in University Residences: Should the rooms stay as they are, and after remodeling be simply smallish rooms with newer furnishings? Or should the units of the Quad be gutted and remade in the image of the halls most residents want to live in?
Cary is due for a number of architectural and mechanical upgrades, some of which have begun. These include new electrical and telecommunications wiring, water heater replacement, fire-control systems, bathroom remodeling and new roofs.
Although roughly $3.6 million worth of the work has been completed, at the current rate it will take 90 years to get it all done.
All these factors led staff in University Residences to choose a plan to gut and remodel three of the five units and extensively remodel the other two at an accelerated pace.
A survey of more than 3,000 residence hall occupants, former residents and nonresidents produced a framework for the project. Focus groups with students and staff refined the plan. It consists of closing each of the units for about 15 months apiece while work is done. The tentative plan and order of work:
* Gut and remodel Cary East, converting small doubles and communal bathrooms to large doubles that share a bath with an adjacent double.
* Gut and remodel Cary Northeast similar to Cary East.
* Gut and remodel Cary West.
* Replace all furnishings and wiring in Cary South, but leave room
configurations as they are now. This project will involve two 15-month
phases, with half the building being closed during each phase.
* Remodel Cary Northwest along the lines of Cary South.
The Cary South phase will be coordinated with the last phase of the food-service upgrade and consolidation. South will be the location of one of the five dining commons envisioned in the food-service project.
Because all interior walls and mechanical systems will be removed from the East, Northeast and West units, those will be air-conditioned as part of the project.
After each of the Cary units is remodeled, residents who choose rooms in those units will be charged a higher fee to live there. The bonds that will be sold to finance the roughly $36 million project will be paid off with those fees.
"These will be premium rooms in the same way that Hillenbrand rooms are, and we will charge accordingly," says Marvis Boscher, director of university residences.
The current capacity of Cary Quad is 1,555 residents. After the completion of the project, that capacity will decline by about 300.
Story by Jay Cooperider
Photographs by Tom Campbell and David Umberger
PHOTO CAPTION:
For nearly 60 years, the imposing tower of Cary South has been a landmark
along Stadium Avenue. South and the other four Cary units are scheduled for
extensive renovations, beginning in May 2000. Maintenance - such as masonry
repair and tuck-pointing - has been ongoing for years. But at
the rate it was going, necessary repairs and upgrades would have taken 90
years. For that reason and others - including that the small Cary rooms are
proving far less popular to residents than rooms in newer halls - a
seven-year, $36 million renovation project is planned. The work includes
gutting and renovating three units and extensively remodeling and upgrading
the other two.
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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