Board of Trustees approves new residence hall, dining room expansion

The University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees approved a new 178-bed residence hall and dining hall expansion and renovation for Pitt-Bradford at its meeting Friday.

Last summer, the trustees approved both projects as part of the university's capital budget.

Construction on both projects will begin this summer and be completed in time for the 2018-19 academic year.

The $16.92 million hall will be located at the current site of the Dickinson town house apartments, which will be removed prior to the start of construction. The net gain for the campus will be 38 beds. Once the new hall is completed, the campus will be able to house more than 1,000 students.

“The new residence hall will be similar in look to those built in recent years and include common areas for socializing, study and fitness,” said Dr. Livingston Alexander, president. “Given our continuing transition to a primarily residential campus, there is a growing need for on-campus housing.

“Each year we strive to address the housing needs of our students. Even after the new facility is built, we will have to continue to house students beyond the design capacity of existing housing facilities on our campus.”

The new residence hall will be the fifth built since 2005. Demolition of the town house apartments will begin following Commencement, with construction of the new residence hall to begin once the site is fully prepared. The hall should be ready for occupation in August 2018.

The $4.71 million dining hall project will add space in the dining room to accommodate 69 new seats. The kitchen, which was built during a renovation of the Frame-Westerberg Commons in 2003 to serve 750 resident students, will be expanded by nearly 3,000 square feet to provide more room for food production, storage and dishwashing.