Apartments will not get major renovations soon

While there are 4 multimillion dollar construction projects on campus, university forest apartment renovations are not expected for years to come, said Carolyn Bigler, assistant director of undergraduate student housing.

"There is a 10-year renovation plan [for campus] and the apartments are nowhere near the beginning of that plan," said Carolyn Bigler, assistant director of undergraduate student housing.

Four other major construction projects are underway across campus, including the Queally Hall expansion of the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business and the addition of First Market Stadium.

University Facilities replaced the downstairs carpets of about 12 apartments with tiles this summer, leading some students to speculate that larger construction projects or demolition of the apartments was soon to follow.

The 168 apartments, which were completed in 1990, undergo summer overhauls that cost between $250-$500 each, depending on their condition, said Al Lane Jr., the manager of Custodial and Environmental Services.

Every apartment is cleaned in preparation for the returning students in the fall. This includes, but is not limited to, disposing of dirty carpets. This smaller renovation is part of a plan that started two years ago, which Lane said created a healthier environment that was easier to maintain in places that got heavy traffic.

Though the carpet swap is a slow process, some students living in the apartments didn't mind. Junior Michael Bowers said he and his friends loved their apartments.

"There's nothing that really needs to be changed," he said.

Senior Anthony Ferguson partially disagreed. Although he said he was content with his apartment, which has new countertops and carpet, he said others were filthy, regardless of whether or not they were cleaned during the summer.

Any renovation plan for that part of campus is almost non-existent, Bigler said.

"There have been so many revisions to the master plan for the school that the original goals and designs are now obsolete and no details have been discussed at all," she said.

As to whether school officials will approve the demolition of the apartments, Bigler said: "That's so far in the future. If that happened, it'd be years from now before they'd even talk about it."

Contact staff writer Jordan Trippeer at jordan.trippeer@richmond.edu