John Gardner of Delta Sand and Gravel works Tuesday on the construction of The Living Learning Center, which is being built next to the Walton Complex.
Ruckus in the residence halls is nothing new, whether it be a fellow resident’s death metal or a late-night game of hall soccer. But many of the residents living in the halls close to the construction site of the Living Learning Center said they weren’t expecting the noise of jackhammers, breaking rocks and other construction noise.
“I can’t sleep. It wakes me up. I can’t nap. I can’t study,” complained freshman Joseph Mintzlaff, who lives in Carson Hall.
The site preparation phase of the construction began July 22, according to the Living Learning Center Web site.
Director of Facilities Housing Nancy Wright said the preparation was originally slated to finish before the end of the summer.
“Had we not gotten rain and we had gotten the city permit sooner, we would’ve had (the site preparation) done before summer,” she said.
Freshman Charlie Beckers of DeCou Hall in the Walton Complex said the excavation sounded “almost like explosions.”
Additionally, residents complained that the 8 a.m. start of the construction was much too early.
“It has woken me up in the morning when they started doing the hammering,” Beckers said.
Freshman Sibyl Geiselman of Dyment Hall in Walton Complex said studying in her room is nearly impossible.
“It’s right outside my room,” she said. “I can’t go up to my room to study because there’s a bunch of noise … and those windows don’t block the noise.”
Freshman Dominique Devnam of Adams Hall in the Walton Complex said the noise was “loud, beating, drumming,” and made it difficult to study.
“You can’t really study with construction going on,” she said. “It’s hard to concentrate.”
The noise is especially troublesome because the three designated honors halls — DeCou, Dyment and Hawthorne — are some of the closest to the construction. Students
often choose these halls for their extended quiet hours and studious
environments.
University Housing Director Michael Eyster said that he would consider moving these halls.
Eyster said University Housing didn’t inform the residents of the construction until after they signed their contracts.
Residents said they weren’t anticipating noise at this level. Some said they might have reconsidered living in the halls if they had known about the construction.
“I would have preferred not to (live in the halls),” said Devnam.
Only one student has transferred to another hall because of the noise, Eyster said, adding that University Housing has done what it can to remedy the problem.
“We can limit the times of day,” he said. “We can tell students when the noise will be most intense.”
He said University Housing offers earplugs to help students deal with the construction noise, though earplugs have always been offered to residents to help them cope with noise in the residence halls.
Some students said they feel that compensation, in the form of discounted room rates, should be in order.
“I think that would definitely be fair,” said freshman Ryan Hastreiter of DeCou Hall, who has considered transferring to another hall partially because of the construction. “There’s already enough distraction here.”
Eyster said compensation would not be offered, given that University Housing is supported exclusively by room and board rates.
“That would be taking money out of one student’s pocket and putting it in another’s,” he said.
Mintzlaff said though the noise is bothersome, compensation should not be in order.
“I guess I’ll have to take the bad with the good,” Mintzlaff said.
Freshman Jared Slesnick of Hawthorne Hall in the Walton Complex has found a creative way to cope with the construction.
“Sometimes I like watching the big machines,” he said.
Site preparation is slated to end Monday, Oct. 18, and construction of the building will begin in January.
