Friday, June 16, 2017

Another dorm being torn down...(Update)


http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/06/15/fsus-fabled-smith-hall-demolished-new-dorms-open/399944001/

Mark Bertolami, FSU’s director of planning and space management, said in past years, FSU has maintained the campus’ “architectural legacy” by renovating pre-World War II constructed dorms on the east campus, which he described as “architectural gems.”
But dorms like Smith and Kellum on the west side proved to be more challenging with features and design that are no longer as appealing.
“You can spend a boatload of money trying to renovate Smith Hall, but you still have Smith Hall,” he said. “Those residence halls were built differently and operate differently from what we build now.
"Who takes a shower with 30 other people,” he said.
Bertolami said over the next 10 to 15 years, FSU will replace the older dorms on the west side with new buildings that fit the needs of today’s students.
That means replacements for Rogers, McCollum and Salley residence halls, he said.
“We are taking our post-World War II inventory and we have developed a long-range plan to replace it,” Bertolami said.
Bertolami said it is not only more feasible financially for the university, but it puts FSU in the position of providing students with attractive housing that helps with recruiting and retaining students who today, have more options to on-campus living.
On campus housing, he said, is a “critical part of the equation,” when it comes to student success.
“We are trying to be more responsive to student desires and the new residence halls function much differently,” said Bertolami, describing the older dorm models as “basically concrete battleships.”
The sites once housing Kellum and Smith Halls next will be used as a staging area for contractors building the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science building, Bertolami said.
Once that project, commonly referred to as the “EOAS” building, is finished within a year and a half, the site will be used for parking.
As funding becomes available, FSU plans to build its new STEM Teaching Lab where Smith Hall once stood.


John HonoréVerified account @JohnHonore 3 hours ago

3 comments:

  1. Knock it down! Just 3 more ugly dorms to go.

    Multiple other ugly academic or student services buildings I'm still waiting on to go though.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. FSU is making pretty solid progress on the ugly buildings.

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  2. New dorms and a new science quad. That should be the nw corner.

    ReplyDelete