May 12, 2000

TRUSTEES APPROVE SKETCH/PRELIMINARY PLANS FOR GRADUATE HOUSING AT UNIVERSITY PARK
University Park, Pa. — Penn State’s Board of Trustees today (May 12) approved sketch/preliminary plans for the first new graduate housing at University Park since the construction of the Graduate Circle Apartments in 1959. The new units will be built on the West Campus and will replace the antiquated, temporary housing units at Eastview Terrace along College Avenue, which were built more than 50 years ago.

"The University Park Campus Master Plan proposes new housing on the western end of the West Campus and this is where the new graduate student housing will be," said Gary C. Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer. Last year, the Board appointed Weber Murphy Fox of Erie as architects for the project.

The plan includes 75 single-student apartment units combined in three-story buildings at the east end of the site and 126 family apartments of one, two and three bedroom configurations at the west end of the site. The family units are grouped into neighborhood clusters, allowing parents to watch children playing in the inner courtyard areas. A central community center ties the family and single-student complexes together. Parking for about 149 cars will be kept to the perimeter, but close enough to allow easy access to the living units.

The exteriors of the single-student housing will be comprised of brick and concrete masonry with steep pitched roofs to give the feel of a residential neighborhood. Each of the three floors will have six apartments with four single bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and dining space and a living room. Two of the buildings will have a two-story section with an additional apartment on each floor. In total, the layout will provide beds for 300 students, plus two resident assistant apartments.

The family units will be similar, with brick and concrete masonry and pitched roofs on the two-story structures. The one-bedroom units are designed as flats, and the two and three bedroom units are designed like townhouses with bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. The third bedroom for some units will be located on the first floor, along with the kitchen and dining area and living room.

Contact: Christy Rambeau (814) 865-7517 or e-mail at