With the reopening of Hitchcock House and Seelye House, the College will have an overall excess of approximately 200 beds, said Torin Moore, Dean of Residential Life. This is why so many dorms will be closed next year, which will allow the College to greatly conserve resources and save money. In addition, the College has put its 12-year renovation process on hold. The project is approximately two-thirds complete. The renovation of the Social Dorms will most likely be the next housing priority.
The excess housing was expected, as the College never intended for Plaza and Waldorf to serve as permanent housing. According to Moore, Plaza and Waldorf “offered the College housing flexibility at a time when we had significant student displacement due to dorm renovations.”
The dorm closures will allow students to live in the most modern and energy efficient houses. According to Jim Brassord, Director of Facilities, “We optimize the operation of all building systems in the renovated and new dorms with state-of-the-art computer controls that adjust the dorm’s heating and hot water system temperature to correspond with the outside air temperature.” Extra insulation, double pane windows and hot water heat circulation will further reduce many dorms’ operating costs.More of the student body will inhabit aesthetically pleasing dorms; a final benefit is that these dorms also offer recently updated safety and security measures.
These changes will most directly impact the Class of 2012, who will be sophomores next year. Most students in Plaza, Waldorf, Plimpton and Tyler are current sophomores living in singles. With these dorms closed, sophomores will be physically closer together — no longer spread from the Hill to the Mods. With fewer options, however, they will most likely live in doubles in Mayo-Smith House, Morris Pratt Dormitory, Morrow Dormitory and Valentine Hall instead.