Although administrators have said for a year that Ridgewood will be torn down to make way for a new residence hall, one top administrator now says that decision may not be so final.The University now is leaning toward renovating the dorms instead of removing them, said Dan Feldman, the vice president for Capital Projects. If that happens, the dilapidated 50-year-old upperclassmen dorms may avoid their demolition, which had been planned for this coming summer.

No official decision has been made, Feldman said, and the administration is taking "a closer look" at options for renovation. A renovation plan is being developed to present at an October meeting with the Board of Trustees, he said.

The administration's shift was first reported by the Hoot Friday.

The University had previously decided to level the buildings at the end of this academic year-a move that would leave the University short 109 beds, but would facilitate the construction of a new apartment-style residence hall that would house twice as many students.

The Board of Trustees last fall approved $100 million in new debt, $20 million of which was to fund the new residence hall's construction, slated for completion by spring 2009.

The move stems in part from Student Union officials' concerns that the University will not be able to effectively handle losing both the 109 beds currently in Ridgewood and the beds from a first-year residence hall, Feldman said. Basic budgetary and planning concerns also played a role in the decision.

For the last several years, one first-year residence hall has been renovated during the fall semester and occupied the following spring by the incoming midyear class.

The Department of Student Life has been considering how to address the housing shortage that would result from Ridgewood's bulldozing, Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer told the Justice last week.

If a decision is made to renovate the dorms, the University would still have the option of eventually removing Ridgewood to construct a new residence hall on that site, Feldman said.