FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Students living in the Carlson Terrace apartment complex at the University of Arkansas were notified this week that the complex will be closed in May 2007 at the end of the academic year and after their housing contracts expire. University Housing representatives will meet with Carlson Terrace tenants at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. The meeting is being held to answer questions and help tenants find new housing, either on or off campus.

“Carlson Terrace has continued to experience significant infrastructure failures over the last several months,” said Randy Alexander, executive director of University Housing. “The main problems have been with plumbing and sewer lines, and these have required the relocation of several residents to alternate units, some more than once.”

Four of the Carlson Terrace buildings are scheduled to be torn down in May to build a women’s softball stadium. University Housing originally planned to keep the remaining five units of Carlson Terrace open through 2010. The deteriorating infrastructure and the buildings, themselves, forced a change in plans.

“We have been advised that the only way to prevent more plumbing failures is to replace all lines, including the main line servicing all of the units at Carlson Terrace. The cost to do this work would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Alexander explained. “This, along with other structural problems at Carlson Terrace, has led us to conclude it is no longer financially feasible for University Housing to provide student housing at Carlson Terrace.”

Students who currently live in Carlson Terrace will have a number of on-campus housing options available, which University Housing representatives will explain in Thursday night’s meeting. Members of the Off Campus Connections office will also be on hand to help students who wish to opt for off-campus housing. The meeting will be held in the Carlson Terrace community room.

Carlson Terrace was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and built between 1958 and 1961. Trends in campus housing have changed over the years, with fewer married students seeking to live on campus and a demand for more amenities by the students who do live in campus residence halls. University Housing staff members have been developing a campus housing master plan over the last 18 months to meet the need for more on-campus apartment options. All additional new construction will be paid for with revenue generated by student housing fees.

 On Saturday, Feb. 17, the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees gave permission to select architects and general contractors for two new projects. One will be a 350-bed residence hall located south of the new Maple Hill residence halls. The second is an apartment complex for about 160 students, built on the east side of Duncan Avenue across from the Harmon Avenue Parking Garage. Both projects are on a fast track and are projected to be open by fall 2008. 

“We regret Carlson Terrace can’t stay open until the new apartments are finished, but we can’t, in good conscience, continue to rent the apartments knowing the infrastructure failures that our students have experienced this year and would likely continue to experience in the future,” said Alexander.