UNIVERSITY TO BREAK GROUND FOR NEW RESIDENCE HALL

NEW PALTZ — SUNY New Paltz will break ground on Tuesday, August 8 for the first of two new residence halls to be built on the southern portion of the 206-acre campus. A ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the building site – just south of the new Child Care Center, near the campus pond.

“This first new residence hall is a welcomed improvement to our campus community,” said President Roger Bowen. “This is another step to ensure that the improvement in our campus quality of life is commensurate with the growth in the quality of our academic programs.”

Construction of the new hall is expected to be complete by next summer and to cost $10,985,000. It was designed by STV Inc. of New York City and will be built by Sweet Associates of New York City, with collaboration by the university’s Office of Facilities Operations.

When complete in summer 2001, the new residence hall will house 231students, and have two apartments for the university’s residence life staff. “More and more students are choosing to stay at New Paltz and choosing to live on campus,” said Ray Schwarz, associate vice president for student affairs. “This hall and the one that will follow will help us meet students’ housing needs and ease the burden on the tight rental market in the surrounding community.”

The second residence hall, approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees in February, is being designed by STC Inc. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2001. When it is completed in 2002, it will house about 200 students in both traditional and suite-style rooms. The projected cost to design, build and furnish the second hall is $15 million.

Names for the new residence halls have not yet been determined. A campus committee will be formed in September to review suggestions from throughout the campus community and make recommendations to President Roger Bowen. The president and his executive staff will make selections that will be forwarded to the College Council and SUNY Board of Trustees for final approval.Note to editors: An artistic rendering of the new residence hall, courtesy of STV Inc., can be viewed and downloaded from the SUNY New Paltz web site at http://www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/reshallrendering.html.