Monday, January 25, 2016

Construction: A Student's Perspective

  For those of you students living on campus (specifically in or around Nunn Hall, The Mignons, or Alumni Hall) you probably wake up early in the mornings. Sometimes before your alarm to the sound of dozers, scrapers, and pretty much any other loud construction vehicle you can think of. For some of you, this even happens on the weekends when you’re trying to sleep in. Or what about the maze that you have to walk/drive through to get to the wellness center?
   And I’m sure you’re even more upset with the fact that the parking lot across from it is completely gone. By this point, I’m sure you all are fed up with all of the never ending construction happening right outside your window. You’re probably not concerned with the construction being done, you just want it to be over. Am I right?
  Well for those of you that are feeling this way, I’m here to tell you how all this construction is worth those extra minutes of sleep that you could have had and that parking spot right next to your dorm you lost.
    A new parking garage/dining facility is being constructed in the place of Waterfield Hall. The parking garage creates 400 new parking spots on three parking decks which compared to what we currently have, is A LOT of extra parking. The dining areas will be 25,000 square feet and will overlook the central residence community.
    This project is being based on what you, the students, have to say. One of the top student concerns on this campus was parking. When the new parking garage is intact, this problem will improve tremendously. I know that construction begins early and ends late, but the earlier they begin, the later they end, and the extra weekends they put in just means that it will be done quicker.
   The demolition of Regents Hall, Wilson Hall, and the parking lot across from the wellness center has provided the space for construction of the new residence hall. This updated residence hall will house 550 students. It will be designed so that students will have much more privacy than they have experienced in previous residence halls. It is the first new, on-campus residence hall since 1969 so it is a huge step forward for Morehead State University.
    Although the renovations to ADUC have not begun, this will quite possibly be the best construction project of them all! Beginning in the fall semester of 2016, ADUC will be closed for expansion. There will be alternative dining services offered while the expansion is being completed. Although this may be unfortunate to some students, the final result will be one in which the students on this campus should be ecstatic to experience.
   The new ADUC will provide students with various new food options including a sports pub, Steak & Shake, MOE’S pizza, and Which Wich. It will include a coffee lounge and a movie theater, there will be multiple student lounges dispersed all over this building, as well as many more new and exciting additions that are still being finalized.
   The upcoming years at Morehead State University are very exciting. An immense amount of change and improvement are being made to our campus and we get to be a part of it. Although the construction may seem like a burden now, the outcome will make it all worth it. As a student, I feel lucky to attend a university that cares enough to listen to our concerns and actually does something to make a difference.
  We asked for additional parking, updated residence halls, a more “student friendly” student center, and that’s just what we are getting. I know it’s hard, trust me, but next time you wake up to the sound of trucks and dozers...just try to remember what an awesome university we attend and how much better our lives will be when it’s all finished.

P.S. I’ll let you in on a little secret called tentative completion dates;

Parking Garage: March 2016
Residence Hall: August 2016
Dining Facility: Spring 2017

ADUC: January 2018 
Andria Hansford
Andria Hansford is a junior studying Marketing and Public Relations at Morehead State University.
She is a student employee for Facilities Management. Hansford will be helping develop communication efforts on campus that highlight progress on projects.

She is Intramural Chair for the social sorority, Chi Omega and will be pursuing a graduate degree in Business Administration when she graduates.

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