By Emily Gibson
Staff Writer
A new dorm that will house nearly 300 male and female students is on track to finish on time and budget to open in fall 2023.
“We have talked about doing this for years and the need to do this for years, so it’s wonderful to see it come to pass,” said Ronda Lilienthal, associate dean of students for residential life.
The new 112,000 square feet residence hall is the first dorm to be built on campus since Benson Hall was constructed in 1974 and will be open to students who have completed 50 or more credit hours by the end of this semester.
The residence hall features seven floors with apartment-style rooms; a lobby space on each floor; six study rooms; a rooftop terrace with a view of the Nashville skyline; a 24/7 C-Store marketplace; game room, laundry room, fitness room and fitness studio, and an outdoor courtyard.
Trevecca Chief Financial Officer Mariano Monzu said he preferred not to disclose the cost of the project. A Nov. 11 Nashville Post story said the building is projected to cost $42 million.
Men and women will both live in the dorm on different floors. Floors one, three, five and seven will house women while floors two, four and six will house men.
“This is a common housing model in Christian higher education,” said Jessica Dykes, vice president and dean of student development.
As for the new safety measures, the entire building, including each individual floor, will be full-surveillance and key ID accessible only. All the TNU community will have access to the facilities’ amenities such as the fitness room and the C-Store marketplace, but only those with ID admittance can access the apartment floors and rooms.
“We continue to invest in improving the student experience, where students eat, play and sleep. We are very excited about this project and believe students will love it,” said Monzu.
Junior religion major Andrew Childers and sophomore religion major Carrington Ray currently reside at UTA but plan to apply to live in the new dorm.
Childers said UTA was an improvement to living with seven other guys at Benson Hall, but now he is ready for an update and a closer walk to the middle of campus where both his classes and the University’s activities take place.
“Me and my friends are super excited to be able to live in the new residence hall, and hopefully it brings us more community on campus but also gives us the opportunity to do more with each other,” said Childers.
Ray said she has loved living in an apartment as opposed to a dorm because of the additional space and sense of freedom it has provided, but she would prefer more living options as she only plans to have one roommate next semester.
“I’m looking forward to the new residence hall to see what living in a space like that is like, and I look forward to the way that I hope it continues to grow Trevecca’s community,” said Ray.
Housing applications open this March for all students with further housing selections to follow in April.
“We’ll be working hard over the summer to get it ready,” said Lilienthal.
