IU Southeast breaks ground on sixth residential building

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BY THE NUMBERS

$5.3 million
Cost of the new Timber Lodge project

87
beds to be housed in Timber Lodge

5
number of residential buildings currently on the IUS campus

588
residence hall applications in fall 2011

100 percent
campus residence hall occupancy rate

Related Photos

Indiana University Southeast Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles along with other dignitaries break ground for a new residential building on campus Wednesday morning. Timber Lodge will be IUS’ sixth lodge when it is completed for the start of the 2013 fall semester. It will be located on the south end of the campus near the Activities Building. Staff photo by Chris Morris

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April 25, 2012

IU Southeast breaks ground on sixth residential building

Campus will now have three buildings on each end of campus

By CHRIS MORRIS chris.morris@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Wed Apr 25, 2012, 05:42 PM EDT

NEW ALBANY — Residential units will never work at Indiana University Southeast. There is not enough need, or demand, to support on-campus housing. The school will always be a commuter campus.

That kind of thinking was the norm, rather than the exception, for more than three decades on the New Albany campus along Grant Line Road. But in 2006, it all changed.

IU Southeast Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles and her staff sent a feasibility study to the IU hierarchy that year which included a vision for on-campus housing. Two years later, the first lodge was opened. And now, six years later, IUS is ready to begin construction on a sixth residential lodge, which will be located near the school’s Activities Building.

A ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday morning for Timber Lodge and construction is expected to begin this summer and last about a year, Patterson-Randles said. The $5.3 million project will add space for 87 more residential students. She said in the last two years, IUS has had 100 percent occupancy in its five lodges. In fall 2011, there were 558 applications for 399 beds.

Timber Lodge will be located near Orchard and Grove lodges at the south end of campus. When completed, IU Southeast will have three lodges on the north end, and three at the south end of campus.

“I’m very proud of the educational institution IUS has blossomed into,” Patterson-Randles said. “Much like four years ago, this is a very special moment. We seized upon a unique opportunity to add another lodge and thereby meet a growing student demand for living and learning on this beautiful campus.”

The project was approved by the Indiana University Board of Trustees in August 2011.

Timber Lodge will have the same rustic design as current IU Southeast lodges and will be ready for students for the 2013 fall semester. However, unlike the other lodges, Timber Lodge has been designed to receive a LEED Silver [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification by the United States Green Building Council. This is the first LEED project to be built on campus.

“Over the last three years, the need for additional housing has been even more evident,” said Dana Wavle, vice chancellor for administration and finance at the school.

Crystal Gunther, chair of the board of advisers, said IU Southeast continues to be one of this area’s most important resources.

“Every time this campus grows, our community grows,” she said. “This is where our leaders are made, one graduate at a time.”