The University opened 33 suites in the new Ridgewood Quad for 131 juniors and seniors during the spring semester but left 11 suites unoccupied due to the ongoing construction of the new Shapiro Admissions Center, according to Interim Co-Director of Residence Life Jeremy LeifermanPrior to July 2007, Ridgewood Quad housed 109 students. However, that quad was demolished to make way for an upgraded quad. The original Ridgewood Quad was considered dilapidated and the University decided to rebuild Ridgewood. The new Ridgewood has added an additional 75 beds compared to the old Ridgewood and will provide housing for 184 juniors and seniors once all the suites are opened.

Leiferman said the 11 suites that were not made available for this semester were the suites facing the construction area of the admissions center. The University opened more Ridgewood suites than originally expected. In an e-mail to the Justice, Leiferman wrote that the decision was "based upon student demand, and the majority of loud construction site work was scheduled to be completed at the Admissions project by January. The remaining suites that are not occupied have remained so, as they face directly on the construction site and may still be affected by noise and by dust from the site. While the anticipated noise is less than might be caused during the site work, there will still likely be some noise by the construction from trucks moving about the site and the continuing work."

"Students that are currently living in Ridgewood may be able to hear the construction noise on a loud construction day, but [ResLife] hoped to minimize the effects by not placing students facing the construction," Leiferman said. "The other 11 Ridgewood suites will be opened for [the fall 2009 semester] and students will be able to choose these rooms during the housing selection process this year."

In an e-mail to the Justice, Vice President for Capital Projects Dan Feldman wrote, "Any construction process involves some noise and disruption, the residents of the new Ridgewood Residence Halls should be shielded from most of that by the buildings themselves. Furthermore, the noisiest part of the construction process for the new Admissions Center, excavation, was already completed over the summer."

In an email to the Justice, Leiferman wrote, "There were about 45 groups of 4 who registered for Ridgewood. Students were able to select from 31 apartments. (2 apartments are assigned to CAs, totaling the 33 occupied units.)"

According to the ResLife Web site, each Ridgewood has single bedrooms for each student. The Web site also states, "Each apartment has a private bathroom, kitchen, and common area. Kitchens are equipped with a stove, oven, dishwasher, full-size refrigerator, and microwave. Every building will have an elevator."

There were concerns regarding possible minor construction glitches in Ridgewood, including lighting malfunctions. In an e-mail to the Justice, Feldman wrote, "With any major capital project, which involves many complex systems and many thousands of details, it is absolutely normal that there remain a few issues to resolve when the building is first occupied. Our construction manager has been diligently working to resolve any remaining issues as quickly as possible. With regard to lighting, there has been only one report of a light not working, and it was because a circuit breaker had been mistakenly switched off. Switching it back on resolved the problem."

However, the construction on the Ridgewood dorms is not completely finished yet, Leiferman said. "The tile floor for the South Campus Common area is being imported from Italy." Leiferman wrote, "We are not scheduling any major events in the South Campus Commons until the floor is installed. The selection of the Italian tile is a design decision that I was not a part of, so I cannot speak to its selection. I do know that when we learned that the tile would not arrive in time for opening, the Capital Projects team did review other options that might be available more quickly, and they determined that the original tile choice was the best," in an e-mail to the Justice.

"Ridgewood is an appealing housing option," Student Union President Jason Gray '10 said. "I think that it is great that Ridgewood is now open and on schedule." Gray explained, "It's great that the University is working to provide more housing options and better housing. Ridgewood is definitely needed."

Aaron Hattenbach '09, who moved to Ridgewood from his Charles River Apartment, said, "It is much nicer and much closer to classes." He added, "Living in Grad is [an] inconvenience," and said that he is "really looking forward to living in a nicer place."



-Nashrah Rahman contributed reporting.