More Residence Information from Mount Allison University

Lately a few e-mails have been sent from the school: ads for part time work, minor repairs, building demolitions, wireless router upgrades, etc...

I'm not sure if you caught that...but Mount Allison is tearing down Baxter and Sprague. Baxter and Sprague? You ask. Yes, exactly. They haven't been used for anything in the past year to my knowledge. If you have the time you can check how this might fit in to Mount Allison's Master Plan. I think it may be fair to assume that a major reason for the demolition is the simple fact that the school doesn't want to pay to maintain buildings that aren't being used.


There are a few interesting things that Mount Allison has decided to make public. The first I'll share is a website about Campbell Hall. Mount Allison has done a lot in terms of planning for residences on campus. When Campbell was in the planning stages one of pages about the new dorm (still available as of this posting) stated that compared to Palmer, Campbell Hall is a    (bold in original)

A Major Improvement

The new building will be better suited to the lifestyle needs and trends of today's students.

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Besides providing larger rooms equipped with new furniture, the new residence will address:

Privacy Requirements, the preference for single rooms and private washroom access. The new residence will be all single rooms, each with direct access to a semi-private washroom. Currently, Palmer has open-style washrooms, with stall-type toilets and showers.

The school decided to be proactive in upgrading its residence facilities because of competition. (bold in original)

Building the New Residence

One of the key things parents and potential students look for when choosing a university is the residence facilities.

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We are competing with other Canadian undergraduate universities for the top students. Mount Allison must be proactive in keeping its facilities upgraded or we risk losing students to other universities that may be better suited to their residential needs.

The other interesting page is the Facilities Plan for the foreseeable future. It looks a little something like this. If you dig a litte deeper into the planned phases you'll learn that Mount Allison is planning on building two new residences.

Planning for Success - Key Elements
Implementation of the Campus Master plan will enhance classrooms, learning facilities, recreational and student life areas as well as residences. The crux of the Facilities Master Plan is to center the campus physical environment around three primary areas: • A Residential Area • A Consolidated Academic Area • A Centralized Student Life Area
A Residential Area
	• On-the-meal-plan residences will be concentrated on the north side of campus to provide convenient access to the newly-renovated Jennings Hall. • Off-the-meal-plan residences may be created by renovation or new construction on the south side of campus if future demand warrants.
A Consolidated Academic Area
The central block of campus will be dedicated to academic and administrative functions that are compatible in nature and promote easy access between the faculties and departments of our multi-disciplinary university.
A Centralized Student Life Area
	The area south of York Street will contain all of the student life activities on campus including the University Centre, bookstore, wellness facility, recreation and athletic facilities and the main sports fields.
Creation of these three areas will be accomplished by a sequential series of renovation/construction projects which can be grouped into four major phases, which are described on the subsequent pages.