New dorms to open in phases
Hard winter weather caused construction delays

Two of the three buildings in the Max Palevsky Residential Commons, originally scheduled to open in autumn 2001, will open winter quarter 2002. Bartlett Dining Commons, the gymnasium-turned-cafeteria for the new residences, also will open in winter 2002.

The 308 first- and second-year students slated to live in Palevsky East, the largest of the three residence halls, will move in this fall. Undergrads with assigned or reserved rooms in the other halls, the 158-student Palevsky West and the 268-student Palevsky Central, will spend fall quarter in Woodward Court, where dining services will remain available.

The delays were caused by record snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures this past winter, says student services dean Ed Turkington, as well as a citywide building boom that has slowed permit review and subcontractor estimates.

Because of an abundance of space once the new residences do open, Turkington says the Breckinridge dormitory and Max Mason apartments will close at the end of this spring quarter. "The Mason apartments will probably end up being used as graduate-student housing," he says, "and Breckinridge will open again to College students in a few years. At that point, both buildings will be in significantly better condition than they're in now."

A group of current Breckinridge residents protested the closure, citing the dorm's single-sex floors and modest board requirements as their reasons for living there. In response, Turkington's office has set aside a house in Palevsky to become a "virtual Breck" with similar living and board arrangements. "The only difference," he says, "will be the location, and frankly, the new hall will be a much nicer place to live."-S.A.S.

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