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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

WSU’s newest residence hall will house 300

Move-in day Aug. 10; close to rec center

Meredith Metsker Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Three hundred Washington State University students will have a brand new, modern place to live in two weeks when the Northside Residence Hall on Colorado Street opens its doors to occupants.

Workers at the five-story, 100,000-square-foot residence hall are installing carpet, floor tile, acoustic tile and common area furniture. It will be open to residents Aug. 10 for move-in day, said project manager Louise Sweeney.

Construction began on the building in March 2012, with construction costs estimated at $25 million and a total project budget of $32.6 million. By comparison, the private apartment complex called The Grove, which was not near completion even before nearly half of it burned down a week ago, did not start construction until November 2012.

Northside is at 1590 N.E. Colorado St., across from WSU’s Mooberry Track, and is a 6-minute walk from the Student Recreation Center and the Compton Union Building.

According to WSU’s online residence hall rate estimator, living in a double room at Northside with a basic meal plan would cost about $11,000 per year.

Sweeney said the overall goal for Northside was to create a modern, safe living space for residents. The residence hall features several room options, including single and double rooms, single and double rooms with bathrooms and two- and four-bedroom suites.

“We tried to give the students a variety of things,” Sweeney said.

The first floor of the building will feature the front desk, where students can get information or replace a lost student ID card, plus a number of activity spaces.

To the west of the main entrance is a 1,500-square-foot recreation room where, Sweeney said, there will be a pool table, TV, pingpong table and baby grand piano. The room has a high ceiling with suspended lighting fixtures as well as floor-to-ceiling windows.

The other four floors each include two communities of rooms and suites, with one decorated in a spring theme and one in a fall theme. Each community houses 35 to 40 students.

Each residential floor also includes a couple of study lounge spaces and at least one active lounge, which includes a kitchen, TV and laundry room with three washers and four dryers.

Northside residents will also have access to a terrace patio on the rooftop and to a ground-level courtyard, where, Sweeney said, there will be tables, chairs, planters, a grill and umbrellas.

“We wanted to incorporate a courtyard or some kind of activity space that was theirs,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney said the beds in each room, which are all height-adjustable, were made by the prison industry. Each room is also furnished with a desk, closet space and set of drawers.

Sweeney said there are several levels of security at Northside. Residents will need their Cougar ID card to open the front door to the building, use the elevators, gain access to certain halls and lounges and get into individual rooms.