The days of housing Marquette freshmen in local hotels may have come to an end.

Abbottsford Apartments, an on-campus residence for graduate students and students with families or children, will be converted into an undergraduate residence hall over the next two years, according to Dean of Residence Life Jim McMahon.

The Board of Trustees approved the plan, developed over the past few weeks, during its meeting Wednesday afternoon, McMahon said.

"We've done a lot to try and accommodate freshmen and sophomores who have to live on campus" over the past few years, McMahon said. Solutions have included using the basement of O'Donnell Hall and an unoccupied fraternity house, adding a third person to double rooms in Mashuda Hall, placing students in the Hilton Hotel and leasing South Hall, he said.

Since September, the university has researched options to provide permanent undergraduate housing. Alternatives such as converting the second floor of Mashuda and the offices in Carpenter Tower to living areas and finding new places to lease around campus were too expensive, McMahon said.

Abbottsford was "the easiest conversion, at the least cost, for the most spaces," McMahon said.

Renovation will begin after the leases for current Abbottsford residents run out at the end of May 2005, McMahon said. The first five floors of the nine-story structure will be converted and ready by fall of the 2005-'06 year. The rest of the building will be renovated the summer before the 2006-'07 school year.

Next fall, 112 spaces will be available for incoming freshmen, McMahon said. Floors six through nine will remain available for graduate students and students with families until the second round of renovation, after which the entire building — 221 spaces in all — will be transformed into undergraduate housing. Efficiencies and one-bedroom apartments will be turned into double and triple rooms, respectively, McMahon said.

The building will not be entirely renovated, McMahon said. The first floor will become a common area, and rooms will be furnished with modular furniture, telephones and Internet connections. Kitchen appliances such as stoves and refrigerators will be removed, but the kitchen area will remain intact, he said.

The conversion will cost about $4 million and "essentially pay for itself" when students begin to occupy the residence hall, McMahon said. It will allow the university to reclaim space in other residence halls used to accommodate the overflowing freshmen population and reduce reliance on other housing options.

"We don't have to worry about finding off-campus housing," McMahon said. If the university decides not to renew its lease of South Hall, which expires in May 2006, there will be enough space in Abbottsford to accommodate those students, he said.

Though undergraduate students will likely approve of the plan, "I think (Abbottsford residents) are going to be concerned," McMahon said. The university plans to work with private landlords to assist graduate students in finding new housing off-campus.

There are four permanent residents in Abbottsford whom the university will assist in finding new apartments nearby next year or the following year, McMahon said.

Ultimately, "this will prove to be a benefit to graduate student housing," McMahon said, though "it doesn't diminish the current concerns."

Some Abbottsford residents do not see the plan's positive effects.

"It seems that, once again, (graduate students) are being put on the back burner," said Ramon Luzarraga, a doctoral candidate in theology.

Julie Ragatz, a third-year Ph.D. student, is "sorry that they couldn't find a better alternative" to solve the undergraduate housing problem.

"I think there are a lot of grad students who rely on graduate student housing," Ragatz said. The university "is not taking into account the interests of grad students."

McMahon said two forums will be available for Abbottsford residents to voice their opinions. The first will take place today at 7 p.m. in Marquette Hall 300, and the second will be at 2 p.m. Friday in the Alumni Memorial Union, room 227.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Dec. 9 2004.