The Triangle

Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Department of Planning, Design and Construction The new 34th Street Residence Hall, which features a football-shaped floor plan, will be constructed over the tennis courts near Ross Commons.

Media Credit: Department of Planning, Design and Construction A Drexel hotel and conference center will go up between One Drexel Plaza and 30th Street Station. At the lunch held by Senior Vice President James Tucker, Vice President for University Facilities Robert Francis announced designs from two competing hotel chains. Above is the Marriott Renaissance hotel design. For the other design, visit www.thetriangle.org.

Media Credit: Department of Planning, Design and Construction The proposed design for the Starwood Hotel at Drexel

Designs for upcoming construction projects, as well as plans for a campus police department, were unveiled at a luncheon held by James Tucker, senior vice president for Student Life and Administrative Services, March 5 in the Bossone Research Enterprise Center.

Robert Francis, vice president of facilities, made a presentation about campus improvement projects that are part of a five-year master plan for the University.

Francis presented a rendering of the new 34th Street Residence Hall, which features a football-shaped floor plan and will be constructed over the tennis courts near Ross Commons.

Students from the Undergraduate Student Government Association, including Stacey Rose, chair of the student life assembly, provided input into the design and layout of the building. Construction is set to begin soon and is scheduled to be completed by August 2009.

Francis also mentioned that construction of the 84,000-square foot addition to the Daskalakis Athletic Center will begin soon. Construction fences will soon be placed around the DAC and construction is scheduled to be complete by fall 2009.

Plans for converting the 33rd Street armory into a basketball and convocation center can now also move forward, according to Francis, since Drexel has received the lease to the armory from the state of Pennsylvania. Current projections place its completion in 2013.

Additionally, construction plans for a residence hall between 33rd and Natrona streets (2011), an addition to the Academic Building (2012), a replacement of Matheson Hall (2012) and street-level commercial shops on Chestnut Street (2011) were also unveiled.

Francis also said that construction on Powelton Green, a recreation area that is being developed on the former Consolidated Laundry lot at 32nd Street and Powelton Avenue, is underway and scheduled to be completed this spring.

Renderings of the Integrated Sciences Building, which will be located on 33rd and Chestnut streets and will house the biology and chemistry programs, were also presented. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2008 and be finished in winter 2010.

In addition to on-campus buildings, a Drexel hotel and conference center between One Drexel Plaza and 30th Street Station went from rumor to reality for many students at the luncheon when Francis presented designs from two competing hotel chains.

One design for the hotel was submitted by Marriott International Inc. as a Marriott Renaissance hotel, and the other was submitted by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. as a Westin hotel.

Drexel will not be constructing the hotels; rather, a ground-lease agreement will be signed between Drexel and the winning hotel chain. The agreement will provide the chain with a 50 to 90-year lease in exchange for constructing the hotel on Drexel property. The hotel is currently projected to be constructed by fall 2011.

Many students said they were impressed with the campus plan and the way it was developed.

"It is refreshing to know that Drexel really is paying attention to design aesthetics and bringing a greater focus to campus planning," Christopher Russell, a senior majoring in architectural engineering, said.

Mark Whitmarsh, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, agreed with Russell and said, "I was impressed with the level of student involvement that was included in these major projects."

Some students, however, questioned certain aspects of the campus plan.

"I don't agree with segregating the campus into residential, recreational, commercial and academic segments," Whitmarsh said.

In addition to new campus construction plans, Domenic Ceccanecchio, senior vice president of public safety, announced plans around making the campus safer.

Ceccanecchio outlined a phased plan to implement the police force at Drexel. By 2010, he plans to have 28 armed, sworn officers patrolling Drexel's campus.

Tucker also invited Rita LaRue, senior associate vice president for business services, to speak at the event.

LaRue announced that for the first time in many years, all upperclassmen who applied for housing for fall 2008 had been accommodated through the Housing by Design program and the Pennoni Honors College. Sophomores will be housed in Caneris Hall, and pre-juniors and above will be in University Crossings.

New food options were also presented by LaRue, including the 3141, a French-inspired eatery that will soon open in the Main Building, and Currito, a Mexican food chain that will be in Ross Commons.

Dean of Students, David Ruth, also spoke to students and gave an overview of some student life programs and initiatives.

Ruth highlighted the creation of a late-night and weekend events fund, which provides funding to student organizations that hold events at night and on the weekend. The fund was created to help make Drexel less of a "suitcase campus," where most students pack up and leave at night or for the weekend.

He also explained the reasoning behind the creation of Coffee Talk with University Administrations. After President Papadakis cancelled his Town Hall meetings with students for winter term, an editorial in The Triangle stated that Ruth should hold the events instead. Ruth took the advice, and brought representatives from every administrative department together to answer student questions and resolve student problems.

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