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.