New Dorm: a Possibility for Blackburn’s Future
By Jennifer Boyd

With a new student total of 257, enrollment is on the rise at Blackburn. Therefore, the staff has been in the process of designing a proposal for a new dorm to be built on campus.

Two of the essential contributors have been Director of Residence Life Dennis Blanchard and Vice President of Finance Bill Fanning.

Collegiate Facilities is the company being seriously considered to build the structure. This company has built similar facilities at colleges including Illinois College and MacMurray College in Illinois.

If the proposal passes through the planning committee and the board of trustees, Collegiate Facilities hopes to break ground as early as Nov. 1, 2005. This would have the structure livable by August 2006.

“This date is soon, but we want to have this facility open for use as soon as possible,” says Blanchard.
The new dormitory would include three separate, two story buildings located on the Wilson lot, across East Nicholas Street from Butler Hall. The dormitory would hold a total of 53 beds. Each building would hold six two-bed apartments and six single-bed rooms.

Each building would have the two-bed apartments on one side and the single-bed rooms on the other side.
Each two-bed apartment would include two separate bedrooms for the students on the upper level. The apartments would also include a full bathroom on the upper level. The lower level would include a living/multi-purpose room with a kitchenette on one wall.

“I like the idea of the two-room unit. I live off campus this year and I wouldn’t have had to go apartment searching if this had been available. I also like that it allows the residents to be independent, but still a part of the Blackburn community,” senior Andreanna Shelton said.

Each single-bed room would be a one level space including one room with bedroom furniture, a kitchenette, and a private bathroom. This room would be larger than the current singles on campus. A laundry facility will take the spot of one of the single-bed spaces in one of the buildings.

The cost per student to live in the new structure would be in the $3200 to $3400 range. This is approximately $1000 more than a current dorm room with air conditioning.

Room draw for the rooms would be held the same way room draw is currently held. No decisions have been made as to whether there will be guidelines for who can stay in the structure, although mostly juniors and seniors are expected to live there.

“ I think this new dorm might bring more students to Blackburn as long as they can keep in mind they probably won’t be able to live there until their junior or senior year,” Malin said.

“I wouldn’t mind living in the other dorms for my freshman and sophomore years. Being able to move to the new dorm after that time would just be an added perk of being a junior or senior,” freshman Rachel Depper said.
Two main reasons for building a new dorm exist.

One is to stay competitive with other institutions. Dean of Admissions John Malin believes the added space and convenience of cooking meals in the space are features that might bring more new students to Blackburn.
“I want Blackburn to stay competitive with other schools and I believe suite style housing is one of the ways to stay competitive,” said Blanchard.

The other reason for building a new dorm would be to provide more housing for students. With each year’s new student total larger than previous year’s, Blanchard estimates that Blackburn could be short beds for Fall 2006.
“It’s two weeks into the new school year and I believe we have fourteen beds total, male and female, the last time I checked,” said Blanchard.

“I think admissions did a fantastic job recruiting students to come to Blackburn and I think the number could just keep rising if they keep up their hard work and if we have the space,” Blanchard said.

Several strategies exist to pay for the new dormitory. One is to borrow money from Collegiate Facilities itself. Another is to borrow from a private source. The loan would be repaid from the amounts charged for students to live in the dormitory.
Another possibility to fund the dormitory would be grants or gifts to the school from both personal and business sources.
“This may be hard to do because we are trying to renovate the science building, so people are currently giving to see that happen,” said Fanning.

If the proposal of the new dormitory does not pass, another possibility exists for extra student housing. Bill Fanning is currently looking into buying homes in Carlinville and using the homes as student housing.

“Students make choices to go to different schools for all sorts of reasons. We need to offer housing to fit the needs of possible applicants,” Fanning said.

This option has both advantages and disadvantages. Buying homes is an attractive alternative because if enrollment declines, the homes can be rented out or sold. This is not possible for a new dorm.

While owning home is a flexible alternative, a drawback to this strategy is that the college would be in charge of fire, safety, and accessibility regulations. An Illinois law has been passed which is forcing institutions to add sprinkler systems into every room in a residence hall by 2013. This may not affect these houses, but the possibility exists.
Laws also state every new residence option for an institution must be handicap accessible. These two laws could make renovating the homes an expensive undertaking.

“If we want to keep Blackburn going for futures generations, we need to equip this institution with facilities that appeal to students now and in the future,” says Malin.