USC Aiken announces plans for new freshman residence hall

USC Aiken recently announced plans to begin construction on a new freshman residence hall.

The freshman residence hall will be built as a learning/living community designed specifically for freshman students. The four-story, 88,930 square feet hall will provide living space for 300 freshmen. Amenities will include an academic wing with classrooms, an office and workroom for faculty, a meeting room, and an apartment for a live-in resident director.

"The new residence hall will serve as a site for first-year experience initiatives and learning communities to engage our freshmen in a meaningful way, both socially and academically," said Tom Hallman, chancellor of USC Aiken.

Each wing of the facility will feature a study room, a resident assistant (RA) suite, and three living suites housing eight students per suite.

The new hall will be the third residential complex on the USC Aiken campus. It will join Pacer Downs, an apartment community that opened in 1984 and houses 352 students, and Pacer Commons, an apartment-style hall that opened in 2004 and houses 316 students. "With the new facility, Pacer Downs will exclusively serve upperclassmen," Hallman said. "This is a good option for students who are seeking additional independence."

With the addition of the freshman hall, nearly 1,000 students will have the opportunity to live on-campus.

Weaver Cooke has been hired as the building's general contractor, and Clark Nexsen will lead the design. The team of Weaver Cooke-Clark Nexsen has worked on residence halls for several other universities including Winston Salem State, North Carolina A&T State, and Western Carolina. The building will be located on campus next to Pacer Commons residence hall.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2007 for a grand opening for the fall 2008 class of freshmen.

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