A new residence building is scheduled to open August 2022, as announced at the first Carleton Board of Governors (BoG) meeting of the 2019-20 school year.
In an effort to be more inclusive in the planning of the building, Carleton’s Housing and Residence Life Services has released an online survey for the first time during a Carleton building’s creation. The survey asks students what types of amenities they would like the new building to have.
The residence will be unique in that the entire first floor will be dedicated to shared amenities spaces for all students living in residence to have access to, not just those living in the building, according to Housing and Residence Life Services director Laura Storey.
“Every first-year student who is guaranteed a double room is probably also looking for a space to have some privacy, but yet also be around other people,” Storey said. “We want to prevent isolation, so we want to create spaces where you can find community.”
Some of the proposed amenities students can choose from in the online survey include a fitness room, study space, communal kitchen, karaoke room, an Uber and Lyft drop-off and pick-up lounge, and a “maker space” which would have pottery, a 3D printer, sewing machine, and an audio/visual editing studio available to students.
When asked for the reasoning behind the survey, Storey said she wants to know what students will actually use.
“We want students to tell us why they’re interested in particular things, if they are interested in particular things,” Storey said.
Storey also said the number of amenities selected is dependant on the space available in the building and more detailed floor plans that are still in the works.
BoG approved the preliminary design for the new building that will include 450 beds in both single and double rooms on Sept. 30, according to a written BoG statement.
The building, which has not been named yet, is being catered to first-year students specifically.
“The building will be a traditional-style residence with living and social spaces that support a safe and productive first-year experience,” reads the BoG statement. “The new residence will address increased demand for first-year students and provide more upper year residence space in the housing portfolio.”
Storey said the added housing space is especially important due to high residence waitlists.
“We have a long waitlist of students interested in living in residence,” Storey said. “Also knowing that our buildings are aging, we need to be adding new to the inventory.”
CUSA president Lily Akagbosu also said “it’s about time” that Carleton began building a new residence.
“We’ve had limited space on campus for a while,” Akagbosu said. “I remember even when I came in first-year I was on a waitlist for res, so I had to live off-campus even though I’m an international student.”
“I’m really glad that we will have more residence space,” she added.
Although the location of the building is not officially confirmed, Storey said it is likely to be situated north of Stormont house, near where Campus Avenue intersects with the Carleton entrance from Bronson Avenue by parking lot 18.
Storey said this location would be ideal because the residence’s tunnel connection would be at ground level and its proximity to a main entrance could make the building “a beacon onto the campus.”
Students have until the end of October to fill out the survey and decide which amenities they would like to see in the new building.
Feature image by Tim Austen.
