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Faculty rental house set for demolition as construction increases campus amenities

Jenni Wiener, Campus Editor

Miami University's campus will be getting a facelift after facing not only the construction on the new Armstrong Student Center, but also the construction of the long range student housing master plan as well.

The master plan consists of renovating every residence hall and adding four new residence halls to campus, said Bob Keller, associate vice president of facility planning and operations.

"We need four new residence halls so people can vacate the other halls that are undergoing renovations," Keller said. "At the end of the project, our capacity will be more or less the same number of students but there will be fewer beds per building, bigger rooms, more amenities, more private restrooms and open suites."

One of the new halls will complete MET quad, while the other three will be built on Western Campus between Havighurst and Bachelor Halls (not much of the forest will be torn down), Keller said. 

"It's a nice plan that will facilitate pedestrian circulation to campus," Keller said.

Keller says the new buildings will have similar complementary architecture to the rest of campus.

Along with the new residence halls, there will also be some new or upgraded dining halls. Alexander Dining Hall will be upgraded and there will be a new dining hall to replace Scott and Hamilton Dining Halls called Maple Street Station.

This project is scheduled to be completed in phases, said Keller. Completing the residence and dining halls is part of the first, five-year-long phase.

David Creamer, vice president of finance and business services, said Maple Street, which will also have 90 beds, is estimated to cost over $24 million. The rest of the project has not been approved yet. However, the planning and design for the 700 new beds and dining facility will cost $4.8 million and the planning and design for MET quad will cost $1.75 million.

Although Miami is adding facilities, it is also losing some. The two houses on MET quad will be deconstructed as a part of the Maple Street Station project. Both houses were built around 1930 and one has been used for faculty rental since it was obtained by the university in 1975.

Journalism professor Stephen Siff lived in 350 S. Patterson for the past three years while he transitioned to Miami.

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"It was a wonderful house and I am sad it's being torn down," Siff said. "We have a lot of great memories there. My wife and I had our wedding reception there and our first child came home from the hospital to that house."

Siff said his family is not the only one who had great memories there, but he is proud to have lived there for as long as he did.

"It was wonderful to live on campus," Siff said. "But, there are still a number of faculty houses sprinkled around campus."

According to Creamer, approval of the project will be decided this fall or winter.