Construction of three residence halls, renovations to two residence halls and demolition to four residence halls will begin August or September as the fifth project adopted in 2003 to improve student facilities. Michael Davis, assistant vice president of administration said two of the new residence halls are going to be located north of La Maison du Bayou. Each of the new facilities will be three stories and 196 beds. The two buildings will be u-shaped and will face each other to form a large courtyard in the middle, Davis said.

The third building will also be u-shaped and will be built where the existing parking lot west of Goaux Hall is, Davis said. This building will be three stories also but will have 214 beds.

Davis said the committee is still working on ideas for the parking spaces that will be lost.

Collegiate Development is responsible for the construction of the buildings, Davis said. The construction of these three new buildings will cost the university approximately 20 million dollars.

The residence hall project also includes the renovation of Ellender Hall and Calecas Hall, Davis said. Ellender Hall will be used as a fully functioning residence hall. After Calecas Hall is renovated the building will be open only as overflow housing once all other residence halls are full. The estimated cost for renovation to Ellender Hall and Calecas Hall is 2.1 million dollars, Davis said.

Outside contractors will be selected through a bid process to do renovations to both Ellender and Calecas Halls, Davis said. The Nicholls Physical Plant personnel will manage the projects.

Meade, Long, Millet and Zeringue Halls will be demolished, Davis said.

North Babington and South Babington Halls will be taken offline, Davis said. A review will be conducted to determine the future of these buildings.

Davis said the University Police building on the corner of Madewood and Ardoyne will also be demolished and be replaced with either a convenience store that will also sell fast food or a coffee house. The University Police office will move into the administration building at Calecas Hall, Davis said.

While the changes in headquarters are being made for University Police, Davis said the department will function as a full force.

The order the projects will be done in has not yet been determined, Davis said. The three new buildings, which will house 606 students, however, will be ready for the start of the fall 2008 semester.

Davis said while the projects are being done, no one should be out of housing. The projects will be coordinated to avoid that.

Since the project originally started, the project has been scaled back, resulting in a 23 percent reduction of beds available on campus, Davis said. In addition, we originally planned to demolish all old residence halls but have now decided to remodel two of them.

“We are diligently working to present housing to the Board of Supervisors for the Louisiana Systems at the April meeting,” Davis said.

If the project is approved, the plans will go for approval by the Board of Regents in May.