Cal U undergoes $117 million worth of construction
CALIFORNIA – The sights and sounds of $117 million worth of construction and renovation projects are evident everywhere at California University of Pennsylvania. In addition to a complete and drastic upgrade of the entire student housing at the university, numerous other projects will be taking place in the coming weeks and months.
Currently, the debris that used to be Stanley and Clyde residence halls is being cleared away to make room for the construction of the fourth and fifth new residence halls on campus since early 2003. Two other new dormitories were constructed off campus.
President Dr. Angelo Armenti Jr., who brought with him 13 years ago a decision to improve the quality of student housing at Cal U, is seeing his vision of having world class housing come true one phase at a time. Phase IV is under construction now.
“In the fall of 2006 we will have close to 1,800 beds and all rooms will have sprinklers, smoke detectors, air conditioning and great levels of privacy,” Armenti said. “They’re just lovely.”
Armenti said when he arrived at the university, all the residence halls were of the old style with “gang showers, small rooms and hardly any privacy.” Armenti then came up with a way of building the housing without using any state money through public/private partnerships.
The student organization acts on behalf of the university to secure an outside contractor to building residence halls by raising money in bond markets, Armenti explained. He said the construction has cost nearly $100 million.
The first two phases of the housing renaissance were Jefferson at California I and II near Adamson Stadium that includes 768 beds. Armenti said each of the suites in those buildings comes with their own bedroom and bathroom and include four bedrooms off a common kitchen with a living area and laundry facility.
The third phase includes 705 beds and opened in the fall of 2004. Residence halls A, B and C, constructed by WTW of Pittsburgh, are situated above most of the academic buildings at the campus.
Stanley Hall and Clyde Hall, formerly seven story buildings, are now piles of rock and debris. In their place will be two buildings in the same style as Phase III with four-story masonry with dormer windows, Armenti said.
During the design process, Armenti said the engineers suggested using an environmentally friendly geothermal heating and cooling system for the Phase III buildings.
Shawn Urbine, associate dean for residential facilities and conferences, said there are 13 miles of underground pipe for the geothermal system. During a tour of one of the new dorms, Urbine showed off how efficient the system is. After turning on the air conditioning in a room, he opened a window and the AC shut off. Upon closing the window, the AC clicked on again.
Urbine explained that the university was mandated for sprinklers in all the dorms.
He said after adding up the costs to do the necessary improvements to comply with the directive, they were “this close” to the cost of new buildings, holding his thumb and index finger a millimeter apart. After the decision was made to build new, Urbine said officials spoke with “hundreds of families and students” to determine exactly how the new housing units should look.
The new furnished units have separate shower and sink space, spacious living areas and an abundance of storage space. They each have their own thermostats, something that was only found in one of every eight rooms in the old residence halls. Each wing has a laundry room.
The buildings have digital surveillance, computer and lounge areas and seven room options. For the honors students, there is an Honors Wing with a media room and computer room. Kimberly Orslene of the Honors Program said the university will have about 230 students in the honors program this year, making it the “highest it’s ever been.”
Urbine, who first had mental blueprints of new housing units when he arrived at the university 20 years ago, said the new housing units are exactly what he thought they could be.
“It’s perfect. I can’t think of one complaint of what it doesn’t have,” Urbine said of the new dormitories. “This is what we wanted.” Inside one of the new dorms, two windows that used to be in Johnson Hall, the former Honors Hall, was added into the d?cor. “We brought some old into the new,” Urbine said.
“As far as we know, we are the first (university) in the country to change all residence halls to suite style,” Urbine said. The selection process for the dorms is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Urbine said the waiting list for the new buildings is approaching 500 students. A couple of the old residence halls are being utilized until the new ones are constructed.
There is wireless Internet service outside the Phase III buildings and one the ground floor. Urbine said the Phase IV dorms will have wireless Internet throughout.
Armenti said during the design process officials worked with a team that met every other week for 18 months. He said the geothermal system includes 180 wells that are 400 feet deep. The holes were filled with a water and antifreeze mixture and the wells act as a “reservoir of energy in the summer” where excess heat is stored below the ground. After the summer, the temperature of the groundwater was up six degrees, Armenti said. He said in the winter the same heat is used to heat the building. The $1 million investment will likely pay for itself in 2 1/2 years in electricity savings, Armenti said.
“The next 30 years we will save tremendously on electricity,” Armenti said. The system saves energy and also doesn’t have the “noisy chillers” on top of the building, Armenti said. “This system is amazing,” he said.
Armenti said he believes that as a result of the opening of the new residence halls, “interesting and wonderful things have occurred at the university.” One of those things is a substantial increase in applications. Armenti said applications jumped from 3,000 a year to 4,000 last year.
Armenti said both the students and families love the new dorms, which are beautiful and safe. “Many schools are now are doing programs to update student housing, but we have a five year head start,” Armenti said.
Armenti said the state of the art buildings have helped with academic performance, saying that students living in the halls have higher grade point averages. Also, he said the retention of students has increased, a result of the increased privacy in the new dorms.
“People do their best work when they are comfortable in their surroundings,” Armenti said.
In addition to the new dorms, Armenti said numerous construction projects are about to begin in the next few weeks. “It’s going to be very intense,” Armenti said.
Among the projects is construction of a new Duda World Cultures Center. After the new building is constructed, the current Duda building will be torn down and the area will be made into a park at the front of campus. The project will cost $6.1 million.
Armenti said two 50-foot observation towers will be constructed on either side of Third Street marking the entrance of the university. Armenti said the towers, which will be privately funded, will be similar to the ones marking the entrances of a medieval city.
A $6.5 million renovation and expansion of Steele Auditorium will expand the area by 50 percent. Armenti said the project will include installation of elevators, air conditioning and new seats.
“It’s a neat old building. It just needs a facelift,” Armenti said. The project will include new electrical system and a change in the grade of the seating area to allow for better visibility.
A $3.1 million project at Noss Hall will include demolition of the Noss Annex and the History House. It also includes a new roof, masonry restoration, new windows, air conditioning, elevator installation and interior renovations.
At Vulcan Hall, the home of the art department, a $1.3 million renovation project will include new roof windows, air conditioning and elevator installation.
“It will all be going on simultaneously,” Armenti said.
A few years ago, there was a major upgrade to the quad area. Armenti said the area was originally designed for a campus of 500 students, and they had 6,000. That upgrade included widening walkways and directing them to buildings such as Dixon Hall, which included all the student services, but no walkway, Armenti said.
And what Armenti called the, “last, last, last thing” is the closing Third Street to vehicles and the construction of Loop Road around the outside of the campus. Armenti said Third Street will be transformed into a winding cobblestone path with benches and shrubs. As soon as the heavy construction ceases, construction will begin on Loop Road.
As the campus facilities continue to expand and be upgrades, Armenti said the number of students continues to grow. He said enrollment has increased every year for the past eight years. This year’s incoming freshman class could be a 10 percent increase.
Armenti said the last head count stood at about 6,700 students. He said with the current facilities, the university could serve 7,000 students.
“More than that and we will need more residence halls and classroom space,” Armenti said.