The University plans to complete construction on a new Ridgewood residential complex by the fall of 2008, Associate Vice President for Planning, Design and Construction Dan Feldman said. Feldman also said part of the construction will be funded by $20 million of new debt approved by the Board of Trustees Wednesday. The Board approved a total new debt assumption of $100 million Wednesday, $80 million of which will fund an upgrade of the University's science facilities. Additional funding for the Ridgewood project still needs to be raised, Feldman said, most likely from outside donations.

Feldman said the construction schedule is still preliminary, and the University is still trying to determine exactly when work will commence. If the entire project could be completed during the summer of 2007, the current Ridgewood cottages would not be demolished until after commencement that year, he said. However, if it seems the construction will take longer, construction will begin in spring 2007.

Feldman said the University plans to select a design architect by the beginning of 2006.

While Department of Residence Life officials said students have given a significant amount of input on the design of the new dormitories, some specifics of the new dormitories are still unclear.

"We don't know if they're going to have full kitchens," Student Union Housing Advisory Committee member Bryan Deutsch '08 said. Deutsch did say the new dormitories would have multi-floored apartments, and that the complex will provide 300 beds instead of the 106 Ridgewood currently provides. He also said the complex would house both juniors and seniors, as opposed to the current Ridgewood cottages, which are only available to juniors.

Director of Residence Life Maggie Balch estimated that nearly 100 students have been involved in discussions of the new residence hall.

"We need to engage in conversation so that we build the right kind of building, for everybody," she said.

Balch acknowledged it will be challenging if the construction makes the current cottages unavailable for a semester, but said ResLife is prepared to reassign dormitories depending on class size and space availability.

"Designations tend to shift a little bit every year, but they could drastically shift because of the amount of beds that we'll need," she said.

Balch said specific plans for changes in housing designations are undecided.

"We have no idea what it's going to look like yet, or even how many people we'll be dealing with," she said. "It's so hard to speculate.