This year was a year of both sweeping changes and growing pains for housing on campus.
Morrison Residence Hall reopened in the fall after two years of renovations.
While students said they were eager to get a spot in the environmentally friendly dorm, they encountered several problems with maintenance.
The main issue was a broken sewage pipe, which left many students in the building without water for a few days.
"We had no showers and no sinks," freshman Katie Boulware said. "It was pretty bad."
In addition, Morrison also encountered problems with air conditioning and malfunctioning elevators.
But Larry Hicks, director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education, said such problems are not uncommon with newly renovated buildings.
"With the exception of the sewage pipe, most of that was just growing pains," he said.
Despite the problems, some students said they liked living in the new dorm.
"It's definitely the best dorm on South Campus," sophomore Justin Barber said. "It's got a great location, so close to food and the gym."
Meanwhile on middle campus, Carmichael Residence Hall continues to undergo its scheduled renovations. The dorm was shut down at the end of last academic year.
"They've been right on schedule with it," Hicks said. "It is going to be ready to open in the fall."
Hicks added that there was a great deal of request from students for Carmichael next year.
"We've received solid demand for it," Hicks said. "There's also going to be some learning programs in there."
And as Carmichael comes back online, Old East and Old West residence halls, two of the oldest buildings on campus, are scheduled to close for renovations.
While the buildings won't undergo major renovations, they will receive a revamp on the heating, ventilating and air conditioning units, as well as repairs to waterproof membranes in the bathrooms. Repairs also will be made to the buildings' roofs and ventilation systems, Hicks said.
"It will mostly be mechanical and some brick work," he added. "But the buildings will still have their historical integrity."
Old East and Old West are supposed to be the last dorms to be renovated during the academic year for the near future, Hicks added.
Still, there will be dorms shutting down in the summer - a time when renovations are easier because students are not living in the dorms.
Upper Quad residence halls as well as Hinton James Residence Hall will be shut down to install sprinkler systems, which all dorms will eventually receive, Hicks said.
"All buildings will have sprinklers by fall 2012," he added. "We've accelerated our schedule, which was originally planned for 2017."
Hinton James also will receive air conditioning in all rooms, but Ehringhaus and Craig residence halls will still have only 35 to 40 percent of air conditioned rooms, Hicks said.
While the University continues to make improvements to dorms, some talks are taking place regarding building new residence halls.
"Right now it's not an active discussion," Hicks said. "But we're going to take a look at our growth strategy over the next few years."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
