College Purchases Firelands for New Student Housing Apartment Complex Will Offer A More Independent Feel by Cori Winrock Last Spring, a commitment was made by the College to purchase the Firelands apartment building on South Pleasant Street. The building may open as a dormitory for students as soon as next Fall. The proposal to buy the building, which is currently a nursing home, was approved last semester by the Oberlin College Board of Trustees. It is currently owned by United Church Homes, who must first build or find a new facility in Oberlin before vacating. Before students will be able to move into the seven-story building, some renovations will be needed. The building, intended for upper classmen, will provide apartment-style accommodations, including bathrooms and kitchenettes for each separate unit. It is intended to serve as alternative housing option for upper-classman who might otherwise choose to live off campus. “I have reason to believe that it will be an attractive option for students,” Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said, noting that the building will require fewer staff members than conventional residence hall staffing, due to its accommodation of more independent lifestyles. A major concern raised regarding the purchase of Firelands is that there is already a problem with empty beds in existing residence halls and some wonder what purpose the new building will serve. The plans to purchase Firelands predated current concerns over the amount of empty beds. Over 90 beds across campus remain unfilled this year. This is the first time this problem has occurred in recent history and presents a major financial loss for the College. “It was a mistake not to fill our beds. We really must fill our resident halls,” College President Nancy Dye said, emphasizing that the problem was not one of under-enrollment but largely due to the increased number of juniors and seniors allowed off-campus status. To counteract this problem and ensure that dorms are filled, the College plans to reinstitute an off-campus housing lottery, in which upperclassmen will no longer be guaranteed off-campus privileges. The lottery, while not new, has not been enforced for several years. President Dye also noted that the off-campus mass-exodus of recent years has proven to be a negative factor for several neigborhoods in town. The city has asked the College to limit the number of students living off-campus due to the number of houses being managed by out-of-town landlords who do not take proper care of their properties, resulting in the “deterioration” of certain neighborhoods. Despite these obstacles, the College administration remains confident of the building’s success. “Filling Firelands shouldn’t be an enormous challenge,” Goldsmith said. Student opinion of the College’s decision to purchase Firelands is varied. Some students felt they would be more apt to welcome the building once they were able to see it, many not even knowing where Firelands was. “It seems like a good idea for upper classmen, but if [the College’s] purpose is to keep students on campus rather than moving off campus it seems a little bit of an oxymoron,” sophomore Abby Weiland said Some students expressed a degree of skepticism regarding the building’s success, particularly noting its distance from campus. “It’s too far away for people to have to go,” sophomore Brad Walsh said. “Different styles of housing would be nice, but the distance factor is a deterrent as far as on campus housing,” junior Anna Hare added. Some students, however, feel that Firelands will not be that difficult to fill and see the purchase as a good investment. “If it’s cost effective, I would think about it,” senior Jenn Dominguez said. Other students found the possibility of living in a former nursing home somewhat strange. “I don’t want to live in an old nursing home,” junior Andy Campbell said.

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