The announcement of renovations to Ellender Hall to begin in December has raised questions about the possibility of an increase in on-campus housing prices.

According to Hayward Guenard, director of housing, there are no plans for an increase in housing prices due to the Ellender renovations.

“There have been no conversations about raising the fees for Ellender,” Guenard said.
Housing is currently set up in a tier system. The traditional residence halls, Ellender, Calecas and Babington, are the more economically priced options. These residence halls are suite-style, where students share both a room and bathroom.

The new residence halls, Zeringue, Millet and Scholars, have private and semi-private rooms, so their price is higher than the traditional residence halls.

“We’re very mindful of that price structure because some students’ budgets and needs mandate a more economical option,” Guenard said. “Everything we’ve talked about is to respect and keep that type of pricing structure.”

When Calecas Hall was renovated in 2012, Guenard said prices did not increase.
“My first year here, we did a major remodel at Calecas hall,” Guenard said. “That building was remodeled, and we didn’t change the price.”

The renovation is scheduled in phases, with the first to begin in December. Work will begin in the lobby and first and sixth floor rooms.

“One of the reasons we’re staging the project as we are over several years is so that we don’t have to go out and get a bond,” Guenard said. “The way the project’s being done is out of our reserves, so we’re able to get a certain amount a year out of our reserves to support the project and make it more financially feasible without having to increase fees.”

Depending on enrollment and occupancy numbers, the project could potentially take longer than three years.

“We will address as many floors as we can free up. Depending on our enrollment, we might only be able to free up one floor in the spring,” Guenard said.

“Every spring, enrollment drops a little bit,” Guenard said. “Occupancy drops, and so what we’ll do is relocate people into other spaces during our consolidation process.”

New floors have been installed in the laundry room, and work is currently being done in one room of Ellender hall, before the official start of the renovation in December.

“When a building is from 1968, and you make a plan based on what you can see before you start the project, you could be off significantly on what needs to be addressed,” Guenard said.

The sample room was completely gutted, and the flooring is already down. Soon there will be new furniture options from two different vendors for residents of Ellender hall to view and offer their opinions on.

“Whenever you do a retro-fit, there’s a lot of unknown. The building was built in 1968. You’ve got to kind of get into it to figure some things out, so that’s what we’re doing on that first floor room,” Guenard said.