By Ryan Fournier and Melissa Copeland
After more than a decade without student housing, the wait appears to be near its end. Pending approval of permits, crews are nearly ready to break ground on a new facility, little more than a stone’s throw from campus.
The new building at 1134 E. Park Ave. will have three floors and 24 two-person rooms. Each floor will have two kitchens, and each double room will be fitted with a bathroom.
The entire facility will be fully furnished, ready for students to move in. Some parking will be available, though it’s expected many residents will not have cars, according to Joel Crosby, of Collegiate Housing International LLC, housing owner.
CHI, a Spokane company, hopes to have the building open for business by April. They also plan to build an identical facility next door to the east, available by fall quarter.
Rentals will be on a first come, first serve basis.
Though it’s intended to serve PC students, CHI will own and operate the facility independent of the school. The Peninsula College Foundation helped CHI organize donors for the project, and the Foundation Board voted to support the project with a $100,000 loan.
In Port Angeles, where there’s a widespread shortage of available housing, student housing close to the College will find a niche ready to fill. There are currently 86 international students enrolled at PC, a number that’s normally above 120. Furthermore, over 90% of PC’s student athletes come from outside the area. Beyond these, PC serves students from around the Peninsula, some of whom could save a long daily commute by renting close to campus.
PC’s on-campus dorms were closed in 2003, and demolished in 2004. The aged building was a “black hole” of maintenance cost, according to Jack Huls, vice president of student services. He said the facility needed to be rebuilt, but at the time of its closure only 29 of its 105 available living spaces were being used. Huls said the school wanted to replace the building and continue offering housing, but it wasn’t financially feasible, given the lack of demand.
Housing near campus could usher in a more active chapter of student life at the College. The list of extra-curricular activities offered could increase, with students already spending after hours time in one location. In addition, with students leaving town for the summer, rooms may be left open to use as boarding for sports or science camps, supposes PC President Luke Robins.
“When we had dorms on campus we had an additional 100 to 200 traditional age college students,” said Rick Ross,
associate dean of athletics and student programs. This, he said, bolstered the school’s intramural and recreational participation, and benefited student life activities. Ross was rec. coordinator while the dorms were operational.
PC’s Recreation program currently holds most of its events during school hours. This presents a conflict with differing class schedules, said Donald Rollman, Rec. coordinator and assistant men’s basketball coach. “Every rec. program I’ve ever seen at a higher university, they go at night,” he remembered of his own college days. “Without the housing, we have to do stuff in the middle of the day.”
Rollman supposed that while CHI would hold its own events, the school’s existing Rec. program, with access to athletic facilities, would have a mutually beneficial relationship with student housing.
CHI owns two other college housing facilities near campuses in Spokane. At these, regular activities are organized for students, such as horseback riding and attending sports games.
PC Rec. offers a variety of intramural sports throughout the school year, including soccer, basketball, and bowling. A list of these can be found at http://www.pencol.edu/student-life/ recreation-intramurals.
Rollman also pointed out the difficulty in recruiting athletes when the
college has no long-term guarantees on housing. The school currently makes what arrangements it can through James & Associates, a property management company. These are subject to change, based on the will of homeowners.
“We play two sports, and we play them really well,” said Robins of PC’s current athletic department. He imagines a time when PC athletics could grow beyond soccer and basketball, with available student housing as a foundation.
“We’d like to build our international enrollment,” added Robins. He said students from other countries are an important part of the “vitality and culture” of PC’s campus. He cited the presence of international students, and the cultural diversity they bring, as a valuable element of learning at the College.
A common option for international student housing is to live with a host family in town while they’re here, or “home-stay.” Many of these seek rental options after a quarter or two.
Hopes for expansion are tentative, though the assumption is that housing space will fill quickly. Robins said it’s likely the issue moving forward will be meeting the demand that still exists once the new space is filled.