Plans to renovate Manzanita Hall will force students to move during the semester as other housing becomes available on the Tempe campus.
Manzanita Hall opened this semester despite being scheduled for renovation to meet the increased demand for housing, University Housing spokeswoman Eliza Robinson said in an e-mail.
Although part of Manzanita was closed last year, no renovation took place during that time. The start date for the project has not yet been determined, Robinson said.
Residents of Manzanita might be reassigned in the middle of the semester depending on their housing preferences and majors.
After midterms in October, if an opportunity to move becomes available, students can choose to decline if moving would interfere with school, Robinson said. Everyone remaining in Manzanita at the end of the semester will be reassigned over winter break, she said.
As housing opens up in other dorms, students will be reassigned to housing related to their academic program or freshmen housing.
The only students turned away from housing this semester were sophomores, juniors and seniors who failed to turn in their paperwork on time, Robinson said. These students were referred to housing options on other campuses and private housing options, like Vista del Sol or other apartments near campuses.
The current plans are to renovate dorm rooms and common areas through the entire building. Manzy Square, the dining hall for Manzanita, will be left untouched because it was renovated five years ago, Robinson said. Manzanita was the only dorm scheduled for renovation this year.
Robert Des Rosiers, an architect for Studio Ma, the company that will be designing the construction project for Manzanita, said only a “feasibility study” has been completed. This study is a preliminary step to determine how renovation may be done.
“We are waiting for ASU to start construction,” Des Rosiers said.
Many of the freshmen moving into Manzanita on Monday morning were unaware that renovation had been delayed. Some students were pleased with the condition of their rooms, but others were not.
“The word for it is ‘terrible,’” said Jalon Sisson, an electrical engineering freshman who moved in Monday. He found out that Manzanita’s renovation had been delayed after finding some problems with his room.
“It needs a fresh coat of paint,” Sisson said. “Our sink is missing a cabinet. I can’t wait to move out.”
Business freshman Shelby Landolt said she was aware that renovation had been delayed, but she was satisfied with the condition of her room.
Landolt described her dorm as “run down” and “banged up,” but she added that it was generous of ASU to allow students stay in the dorm rather than turning them away.
Roman Cooke, a physics freshman, said living in a building in need of renovation isn’t so bad.
“[It’s] better to live in a place that has history than a place that doesn’t,” Cooke said.
Reach the reporter at mshinn@asu.edu
