Incoming residents of the Quadrangle will find themselves moving into halls bordered by heavy machinery, mounds of soil and construction tools.
What looks like a massive construction site, however, is really just one of the final stages of a five-year plan to revitalize the century-old residence. Finishing touches on rooms should be completed by Thursday's move-in.
Extensive internal renovations and landscaping of parts of Ware, Spruce and Community college houses over the summer have greatly improved some areas of the Quad, but have left others looking unsightly. Some construction, such as landscaping the central Quad courtyard, will continue into the fall.
"It's a titanic project," Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee said.
"What I think it's going to do is create an even stronger and more durable community in the Quad," he added.
The plans for renovation of the Quad, which involve condensing the four existing college houses into three houses -- currently dubbed A, B and C -- began in the summer of 1999 and is scheduled for completion next summer.
Internal renovations to House C -- which includes sections of Community, Spruce and Ware college houses -- created new public space for residents, including lounges, libraries and a computer lab.
Brownlee also said that a new lobby area added to Ware College House, including a 24-hour service center, will serve "more as a concierge desk than a sort of `guard-at-the-door.'"
McClelland Hall will also open at the start of the year as PD Express, where students will be able to obtain express breakfast and lunch. The spot was formerly home to McClelland Marketplace, a snack shop that closed last fall with the opening of Houston Hall.
Perhaps the most visible changes occurred in the courtyards of College House B, the first section of the Quad to be spruced up by extensive landscaping.
Brownlee said the project has proceeded on budget and -- despite the unfinished look of the Quad -- mostly on schedule.
Some delays, however, did affect those participating in early move-in last weekend.
Several students arriving on campus before the official move-in date were temporarily housed in W.E.B. DuBois College House when the furniture for their newly created suite had not yet arrived. Another room did not have a door, forcing its resident to spend a night in the Sheraton Hotel.
Upon moving in, one student found the construction to be an inconvenience as she was directed to move her belongings in through the basement of an adjacent section of the Quad.
"They really messed up move-in by not getting it done in time," Engineering junior Robyn Nathanson said.
Still, Brownlee asserted that these miscellaneous items affected only a small number of residents. The rest of the rooms, he said, will be ready for freshman move-in on Wednesday and Thursday.
Though the bulk of renovation on College House C is complete, construction will continue -- as scheduled -- into the fall. Most of this construction involves paving and landscaping in the courtyards of lower Quad.
Other areas of construction to continue this fall include the paving of some roofs and the installation of an elevator in the basement of McClelland Hall -- originally slated for completion by the end of this summer.
Residents should not expect the noise from construction to be too bothersome, Brownlee said.
"These things are minimally obtrusive," he said.
The overall Quad renovation project is part of an effort by the Office of College Houses and Academic Services to retain upperclassmen in the Quad. Historically a mostly freshman residence, the Quad now offers facilities that Brownlee hopes will convince upperclassmen to stay.
Residents so far have had mixed reactions to changes in the Quad over the summer.
"It looks a lot nicer than the crappy grass that was here last year," said Nathanson, who has lived in the Quad for two years.
One parent of an incoming freshman, a 1969 Penn graduate, said the Quad now looks better than she's ever seen it.
"It was an eyesore," she said.
"This is so beautiful. It feels like a garden. It's a very nice, peaceful place to sit."
