The first real sign of progress may finally be in sight for the residents of Carrollton Hall.

The university is hoping to begin moving students from the sixth floor to the newly renovated seventh floor on March 5, four months after the first proposed moving date, according to Robert Reed, residential life director.

The seventh floor of the former New Res building originally was to be completed by late October. The completion date has since been pushed back three times, Reed said.

The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, explained that in addition to the unexpected problems with the physical construction on Carrollton, the holdup has been the result of the ongoing lawsuit filed by Loyola against MAPP Construction, Inc., Travelers Property and Causality Insurance, Eskew + A Professional Corporation, and Einhorn Yaffes Prescott Architecture and Engineering, P.C., the parties responsible for the dorm’s construction flaws. Many of those named in the suit have filed other lawsuits in response, which have resulted in site inspections and hindered the progress of the construction crews, Wildes said.

“The pace has been slowed by all of the lawsuits and countersuits and the need for testing. While I understand why the defendants want to do all this testing, I think it could be done in a more expeditious manner,” Wildes said. “We have done everything we can to move the litigation forward and move towards a settlement.”

The university’s suit states that the building’s design allowed moisture to seep into the walls, leading to the growth of mold and mildew.

The completion of the seventh floor’s construction does not signal the end of the inconveniences for Carrollton’s residents. Many students who signed residential life contracts to live in upperclassmen apartments will never get the opportunity to live there.

Jeff Barker, marketing management senior, signed up for an apartment last spring and claims he was not told of the renovation and his subsequent relocation to a suite until a few weeks prior to the start of the fall semester.

“When we signed up, we were anticipating that we would be in an apartment. I expected to have my own room,” Barker said. He explained that had he been told earlier of the construction, he would have likely looked off campus

for housing. Barker, like many Carrollton residents, was upset that residential life did not allow him the opportunity to be released from his housing contracts.

“The process isn’t fair,” he said. ” I have been waking up to drilling at eight in the morning – Monday through Friday. That wasn’t in my contract,” he said.

Tracy Kee, a history and communications senior, currently lives on the sixth floor and will move to the seventh floor upon the completion of construction.

She said that she felt residential life had tried to do its best in handling the construction situation but remained irritated that she will be moving into her new apartment this late in the academic year.

“I am going to feel like I am living out of boxes for the next two months,” Kee said. “We did not sign up for this.”

Both Wildes and Reed sympathize with the residents and admitted that they were agitated with the pace of the project.

“At this point in time, I am frustrated about [the delays], but I know there is not much I can do about it,” Reed said.

Reed acknowledged that construction would likely be slowed again when it reaches the fifth floor due to its different floor plan. He expects to have the sixth floor completed by the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester.

The process does not get any easier as the construction continues. Both the sixth and seventh floors contain 37 beds each. The second through fifth floors contain 63 beds each, leading to a considerably larger loss in available rooms for prospective residents.

“Housing will be relatively tight,” Reed stated. “Students will still have to be relocated.”

Currently, students have been relocated based on a points system used by residential life that takes into consideration GPA, students’ class standing and years lived on campus, as well as other variables. The students with the lowest amount of points have been moved out of the building, Reed explained.

“It’s extremely complicated, but the school has to work in its best interest,” he said. “We just hope in the end we make up our losses.”

Adam Hennessey can be reached at [email protected].