Seven years from now Binghamton University will look much different. Renovations to the Old University Union and the East Gym Complex will be completed and ‘ as it was announced at Tuesday’s Town Hall Meeting ‘ both Newing College and the Dickinson Community will be completely rebuilt. Approximately 60 students and faculty members showed up to hear the concepts for the two communities explained by Bart Trudeau, the president of Trudeau Architects ‘ the company that has been working with the University to design the buildings.

According to Trudeau, Bingham and Broome Halls in Newing will be the first to be demolished in 2009. In their place, the four buildings that will comprise the revamped Newing will be built.

After this construction is completed, the two remaining buildings in Newing, Chenango and Delaware, will be torn down and the four buildings of the new Dickinson will be placed there.

In the proposed plans, the communities will be separated by trickling streams created from a lake that exists currently behind Chenango Hall. They will each have their own recreational field and quads with wooden benches, but the status of the communities’ dining halls has yet to be determined.

The buildings will be constructed within the Brain (the area enclosed within the East Drive) in the area where the Dickinson Community is. A walkway will be built over the East Drive to connect the buildings to the dorms.

Since demolishing the Newing Dining Hall would be too expensive, officials at the Town Hall forum said it would remain on one side of the Brain (the area enclosed within the East Drive), while a collegiate center will be built on the other side. What the center will include is still up for debate, though it was revealed at the meeting that the communities will share the building and possibly a dining hall ‘ an announcement unpopular with much of the audience.

Matt Landau, who will serve as the Student Association’s vice president for academic affairs, said that he believed that sharing a collegiate center and dining hall between the two would decrease community spirit.

‘The communities need separate buildings, to give themselves separate identities,’ he said.

Vice President of Administration James VanVoorst emphasized that the plans were not final, and changes could still be made.

‘The collegiate center may contain two dining halls and share one kitchen, these are all possibilities,’ he said.

Of the residence halls themselves, Trudeau said they ‘will incorporate nature, with large windows and welcoming lobbies ‘ they will be able to house some 384 students.’

Trudeau added that after talking to students, the decision was made to keep the dorms corridor-style.

Another debate revolved around the design of the bathrooms. The current plans call for private bathrooms to be shared, one bathroom for every three dorm rooms ‘ with each resident receiving a separate key to their bathroom.

Attendees pointed out that the bathroom layouts could create difficulties for both students and Residential Life staff.

‘This is going to create problems, not only will [residential assistants] not be unaware of what is happening in the nooks down the [corridor], but residents often lose keys as well,’ said a Dickinson RA in attendance.

Student Association Vice President David Belsky suggested that students and the administration agree on a compromise on the bathroom issue.

‘Obviously the administration wants one thing, and the students want something else ‘ why not make everyone happy and make one college with community bathrooms and another college with non-community bathrooms?’ he said.