SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Syracuse University announced on Monday the destruction of two dorms, Marion and Kimmel Hall. This is part of the university’s plan to expand housing amidst a rise in admitted students. And for students like Marion resident Patrick Holcombe, it was time.
“The facilities there are really worse than any place else on campus,” Holcombe said. “The bathrooms are disgusting, rooms are kind of falling apart.”
SU has purchased both the Sheraton hotel and the Marshall apartment building in the last three months. This may be encroaching farther into the city, but as Michelle Baran with The Onondaga Small Business Development Center says, it’s good for business.
“These students are spending money in our community,” Baran said. So they’re eating in the restaurants, they’re shopping in the shops. They are definitely engaging in the lifeblood of what makes Syracuse and Central New York, Central New York.”
But with the planned expansion of the university northward, and the possibility of more, Baran, an Onondaga County resident, sees potential problems.
“We want housing,” Baran said. “We want housing for other folks as well. So there’s kind of that complexity of making business and economics work across all of these sectors is tricky.”
SU’s new strategic housing plan still hasn’t been fully realized and has the potential to expand even further. No concrete plans have been made yet for the space other than the confirmation of a new “modern” residence hall. The University is currently working through a timeline for the design and construction of the new building.
