IU Southeast broke ground for the newest campus lodge during a ceremony on April 25.
Timber Lodge will be the sixth housing unit on campus with a projected opening in fall 2013 with an additional 76 beds.
“Much like four years ago, this is also a very special moment for we seized upon a unique opportunity to add another lodge and thereby meet a growing student demand for living and learning on this beautiful campus,” Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles said. “This is indeed a very special milestone because this lodge, called Timber Lodge, will be our first LEED certified building on campus.”
Patterson-Randles said the construction of a new housing unit resulted from a feasibility study conducted in 2006 that determined a demand of housing for 576 to 730 beds for full time students and an additional 48 beds for part-time students.
“I’m so proud that through a lot of blood, sweat and tears, just four and a half years ago, we were able to achieve this campus’s dream and more than that, make a rousing success of it,” Patterson-Randles said.
Indiana University Trustees originally implemented a phased approach to the lodges with 400 opening in the first phase in 2008 with 95 percent occupancy. The subsequent years yielded 98 percent in 2009 and 100 percent in 2010 and 2011.
“In each year of operation, the occupancy rate has exceeded the projections built into the budget performer,” Dana Wavle, vice chancellor of Administrative Affairs, said. “Over the last three years, the need for additional housing has been ever so apparent.”
Despite a resounding need for housing, Wavle said IU Southeast decided to pursue incremental growth rather than a formal second phase due to the economic environment and instability.
“In other words, we thought it would be best to add one more lodge with 87 beds rather than two buildings with 300 beds,” Wavle said.
Wavle said a need for additional housing was also expressed through a rising waitlist and a significant students demand.
Hannah Smith, communications junior, said, for her first year on campus, she was a resident. However, now she is a community adviser.
“I’ve been on both sides of the table where I’ve been on the wait list,” Smith said. “The waitlist kind of makes people nervous, so I think it will ease students’ minds.”
The newest lodge will be located on the south side of campus near Grove and Orchard Lodge, mirroring the design of Orchard Lodge.
“I’m excited for the new lodge,” Hozie Brown, psychology senior, said. “When I first came here, there were no lodges and a lot of people where wondering if lodges would ever be built. To see the sixth lodge shows that the campus is growing a lot in the last few years.”
By STEPHEN ALLEN
Features Editor
allen68@imail.iu.edu
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