New Dorm Being Built

[agibson]

on the site of the Health Center, South West of University and LaPorte.

Driving by today, it's not so clear how it will fit!  I'll be curious to see what the geometry looks like.  There's not a ton of space if they work around the tennis courts.  The parking lot will go, I suppose.  But, then you'll have a dorm awfully close to a tennis court.

It's not going to make the driving/parking situation there any better, either.  People are always pulling up on the side of Scheele there, perhaps with their hazard lights on, dropping it down to one lane of traffic and congesting things.

[valpotx]

On another thread, it was mentioned that some of the outdoor tennis courts will go away in the strategic plan.  Maybe this is the time that it happens

[bbtds]

If you look at the 30 year plan map it shows that the new dorm does, indeed, cover the footprint mentioned by President Heckler and it requires the removal of those 3 tennis courts.  However, on the map it also shows the removal of the outdoor BB court and then three new courts nestled closer to the SB outfield fence.  When you build a big ticket building, replacing those three courts should be a minor budget line.  In line with the improved recruiting and the drive for a better record, I would hope that the great start this recruiting season doesn't get blunted by a lessening of their facilities.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.466532,-87.04405&spn=0.002516,0.004061&t=h&z=18&iwloc=14054543092734372402

You'll have to move the map up towards LaPorte Ave.

It sounds like 6 tennis courts and the basketball court will be removed to make room for the new dorm construction.

http://www.valpo.edu/masterplan/

EDIT: Looking at the master plan map it looks like we could lose only the basketball court. I guess it depends on what the contractor can comfortably fit in that space. It usually takes more room for construction than needed for when the building is completed.

[a3uge]

So we'll now have a tennis team without tennis courts, a track team without a track, and a football field without a football team!

[historyman]

and a football field without a football team!

No different than UDM. Their soccer teams play on the area that is still a football field for intramurals.

Better watch the comments about the football team though. There's students that are pretending to be a real football team practicing these days.

[valpotx]

So we'll now have a tennis team without tennis courts, a track team without a track, and a football field without a football team!

Our tennis team now has access to indoor courts that they will use more often than the rest of the outdoor ones that will be left.  I believe that they are called the Courts of NW Indiana or something, and are supposedly state-of-the-art

[VULB#62]

If you look at the 30 year plan map it shows that the new dorm does, indeed, cover the footprint mentioned by President Heckler and it requires the removal of those 3 tennis courts.  However, on the map it also shows the removal of the outdoor BB court and then three new courts nestled closer to the SB outfield fence.  When you build a big ticket building, replacing those three courts should be a minor budget line.  In line with the improved recruiting and the drive for a better record, I would hope that the great start this recruiting season doesn't get blunted by a lessening of their facilities.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.466532,-87.04405&spn=0.002516,0.004061&t=h&z=18&iwloc=14054543092734372402

You'll have to move the map up towards LaPorte Ave.

It sounds like 6 tennis courts and the basketball court will be removed to make room for the new dorm construction.

http://www.valpo.edu/masterplan/

EDIT: Looking at the master plan map it looks like we could lose only the basketball court. I guess it depends on what the contractor can comfortably fit in that space. It usually takes more room for construction than needed for when the building is completed.

Yep, BBTDS, that's what my original comparison of the Vision 2032 Plan map and Google Maps indicated (and I looked at them again and confirmed my original thoughts).  The Student Health Center, International Student House, the outdoor basketball court and three tennis courts will fall into the construction footprint, but the 3 lost tennis courts will be rebuilt where the basketball court is now so that all 12 will still be there in the end.

I'm anxious to see specific renderings of this building other than the Vision 2032 sketches.  This first building will forecast the architectural direction the campus will take over the next 20 years of construction.  Anybody know if there are some out there?

[bmlvu97]

My guess is that the design language will be similar to the Welcome Center and other buildings recently built.  I have a feeling this was made a higher priority seeing that they keep talking about Valpo having 6000 students within a few years...need somewhere to put them all...

Brian

[vu72]

My guess is that the design language will be similar to the Welcome Center and other buildings recently built.  I have a feeling this was made a higher priority seeing that they keep talking about Valpo having 6000 students within a few years...need somewhere to put them all...

Brian

It's more about building something that is current versus needing more space.  Once complete I suspect one of the older dorms will be gone. President Heckler has stated that if the dorms were filled (no vacancies) that at present there would be one entire dorm vacant.

[agibson]

Given the growth plans (even if it's not likely that we'll make it to 6000 in a few, or even in five, years) I'd be very surprised if they tore a dorm down.

[VULB#62]

The 30 Plan shows all dorms (Wehrenberg to Scheele), along LaPorte replaced.

[vu72]

remember some of that growth (1000 of the 2000) is planned from the graduate side which generally does not require campus housing.

[agibson]

I've heard they'll break ground on the dorm in August.  (But, they also started chopping trees down some time ago.) 

In related news, I've heard that the health center will relocate to the ground floor of the university promenade building that's currently under construction (the western of the two).

The eastern promenade building has at least one tenant - a medical office.

In somewhat related news, it sounds like undergrad enrollment is expected to be up more than 5% for next year.  (But these things aren't so easy to predict until the students are in the chairs, etc.)

[valpotx]

If it is only up 5%, I believe that takes us to 3,150 undergraduates?