Dumpsters overflow with broken furniture. Floors once covered with faded carpet are now

barren. Walls are covered with chipped paint. Hundreds of mattresses crowd the hallways of University Park.

And that is just the way Glenn Stine wants to see it.

Stine, deputy director of University Housing, is one of the administrators charged with improving university housing facilities to help compete with off-campus living options.

Safety and preventive maintenance are the top aspects of the project, said Lisa Marks, associate director of housing.

But the cosmetic turmoil that will take place on campus this summer will also attempt to maintain the consistent number of on-campus residents, which is largely due to the freshmen population.

Out with the old

“We started with the Triads because that is where we had the biggest challenge with filling occupancy,” Stine said. “We hope that with these renovations we can convince people to stay a second and a third year in university housing.”

Stine said University Housing is in the seventh of an eight-year plan to refurnish its buildings.

John Terhesh, a senior from Lemont studying plant and soil science, lived in Allan and Boomer halls his first two years at SIU and said he could see the effort put into updating the facilities.

Terhesh moved off-campus after his sophomore year but said he feels the residence halls compare well with apartments.

“I really liked the dorms, actually,” Terhesh said. “I decided to move out because I wanted a kitchen and a room. But the rooms at SIU were nice and the maintenance was good.”

David Wilkins is in charge of taking care of all the crews at Neely Hall and said it can be hectic with painting, furniture removal and mattress exchanges going on at the same time.

“These guys worked two weeks straight just getting the mattresses down and busting up the old furniture,” Wilkins said. “Sixteen floors with about 48 people on each floor, so you can do the math.”

In with the new

Creating a safer environment is the focus of this summer’s renovations as Thompson Point buildings are getting keyless entry systems, security cameras and most importantly, fire sprinkler systems installed.

Marks said updating security is one way the university tries to attract students to come back instead of leaving for off-campus living options.

She said she thinks university housing overall has a good retention rate of 30 percent to 35 percent, and capacity remains around 100 percent at Wall and Grand Apartments. Roughly 80 percent combined at Thompson Point, Brush Towers and University Park.

“Competing with off-campus housing is always a challenge but we do very well,” Marks said. “These buildings were around in the ’50s and ’60s, so we are always looking for ways to update to students’ needs.”

Neely Hall is experiencing the most change with new desks, dressers, chairs and mattresses among other elements.

University Housing decides what to focus on during summer renovations by meeting twice a month with the Residence Hall Association Board, a committee made up of representatives from each residence hall.

Marks said there are also meetings every semester between the housing directors from Illinois’ universities to assure all residence halls stay current with one another.

This year’s renovations include a restructuring of the Mae Smith Hall lobby, replacing the air conditioning unit at Neely Hall and installing fire sprinkler systems at Thompson Point.

Other additions include new curtains and carpets, sunshades at Thompson Point and repainting walls.

A new state law requires that all university residence halls install sprinkler systems by 2012. Stine said the university is on a three-year plan to meet the goal by 2010.

Steagall, Pierce, Bowyer and Brown halls are having sprinklers installed this summer while Smith, Abbot, Kellog and Warren halls will be done next summer. The remaining three buildings will be finished the following summer.

“Most of our projects have come from discussions with student groups,” Marks said. “We’re ahead with sprinkler systems and have talked about keyless entry for a long time. Like most campuses, we’re continuing to look for ways to make the campus more secure.”

Paying the piper

Stine said it is the housing department’s goal to spend $5 million on improvements for residence halls. The instillation of sprinkler systems will cost roughly $2.3 million while the other maintenance projects will cost $2.4 million combined.

“We’re using a lot of our money to comply with that unfunded mandate of the sprinkling system,” Stine said. “But when that is done, our budget for aesthetic maintenance can increase and we can focus on other areas in the future.”

Raydeen Paper, a Carbondale landlord who owns several properties on the west side, said while university housing may be in “competition” with her, renovation is always a positive.

Paper said putting tenants’ safety first should always be the priority.

“I spend a fortune constantly renovating,” Paper said. “You need to feel like you’re doing something worth while or else it’s not worth it. And I just try to provide a safe, comfortable environment for these young people.”

For university housing, Stine said the biggest challenge would be finishing all the new safety maintenance by the Aug. 1 deadline so students can return to improved residence halls.

“We have resident associates coming in Aug. 2, so we have to hit the deadline,” Stine said. “But we are on track and I think most of the projects will get done early.”

Jeff Engelhardt can be reached at

536-3311 ext. 255 or [email protected]