It’s no secret that many of Oberlin’s dormitories are woefully in need of renovation. Last week, administrators and trustees got a first look at a plan that establishes priorities for the future renovation of practically every dorm on campus.

As part of Oberlin’s ongoing overhaul of student housing, the Capital Committee of the Board of Trustees met with representatives from the architectural firm Herbert Newman and Associates Thursday, March 1 to discuss the firm’s proposals for renovations of Oberlin’s existing student residential facilities.

Representatives from the firm presented the Board with a 1,600-page document detailing opportunities for the College to implement a series of residential projects over the next ten to twelve years, including:

• Addition of fourth floors to Barrows, Dascomb, and East Halls
• Renovations and opportunities for program-based enhancements to Asia House Quadrangle, Barrows, Burton, Fairchild, Harkness, Noah, North, South and Tank Halls
• Deferred maintenance work to most existing residential facilities
• Possible alteration of smaller village housing like Allencroft (Russian House) and Old Barrows for other uses besides housing
• Identification of potential Phase I construction sites on North Professor Street across from East Hall, and immediately west of South Hall in front of Lord/Saunders
• Elimination or conversion of all divided doubles and triples not in program or village housing
• Net loss of 106 total capacity in campus beds
• Total housing inventory of 2,420 beds
  

According to the firm’s estimates, it could cost more to carry out all renovations to South Hall than to build a new dorm, whereas the total per-bed cost for base renovations of Asia House, Allencroft, Baldwin, Firelands, Old Barrows and Talcott Halls would be comparable to the cost of the construction of one new building.

As Vice President for Finance Ron Watts explained, this does not necessarily mean the College will choose to tear down South.

He said, “[Herbert Newman and Associates] isn’t going to say ‘Get rid of it.’ They’ll say, ‘If you want to renovate these buildings, it’s going to require this financial cost.’”

 Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Larry Gibson explained that the firm’s findings illustrate two types of possible changes to existing housing facilities. “In the first phase,” Gibson said, “we’re looking mostly at…the guts of the building: the mechanical, the electrical, the heating, should the windows be replaced, etc.”

The second type of possible change would come in the form of alterations for possible program houses. “[The] common experiences people could be having in the buildings, what amenities and experiences should be available based on the needs of the occupants,” said Gibson.

This leads to several timeline choices that the College must make before it begins any new construction or major renovation projects: how and when new student housing should be built to provide “swing beds” for students displaced by the renovation or construction.

Watts explained the dilemma the College faces in prioritizing renovations: “Some of the renovations we are considering could take anywhere from three to sixteen months… We are trying to prioritize an order: what we can do during the summer and what we need to have in place before we can do the renovations.”

Gibson reaffirmed the College’s ongoing commitment to sustainable development.  He said, “[Herbert Newman and Associates] was given the direction that all new construction and major renovations should be LEED Silver or better.” “Silver” is a rating on the Green Building Rating System by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.   

Newman and Associates are scheduled to present a revised report to the Board in June.

If the firm comes up with a series of recommendations, then a housing sub-committee will start to work on the project with an as-of-yet undecided contractor.

Meetings of the planning committee, which has student representation from the housing sub-committee, will not be open to the public. However, presentations and input sessions will eventually be available to the student body when the plans are finalized. In addition, a community section for Master Planning within Blackboard is underway where students will be able to find information as it develops.

If students are interested in being on the planning committee for the Residential Master Plan, they should contact the Residential Education office.

Molly Tyson, director of residential education, admitted that plans at this point are vague.

She said, “Without a definite approved plan from the Board of Trustees, it’s a little bit difficult to say what we’re going to do. Although the student body will be a part of the planning process as each project is defined, the implementation of the full plan will take many years to fulfill.”