Let’s go back in time for a bit, shall we? Do you remember long walks around Barone endlessly searching for a seat? I mean sure, we got to enjoy the scenic view of outdated furniture but still, all we really wanted was to sit down and eat. However, before things can improve they must first get worse. Freshmen last year were assaulted every morning by the construction going on behind Regis. A new dorm, a new parking garage, a new dining hall, a new nursing school and a new business school? Was it necessary to do all these projects at once? I highly doubt it.
The obnoxious construction is unfair to the students who pay for the luxury of having a beautiful campus. Now underclassmen must deal with construction possibly up until 2019? For the class of 2019 and below, this construction will last for nearly their entire undergraduate career. According to a previous Mirror article, there are even plans to begin reconstructing Alumni hall in the year 2021.
Will the construction ever end? I don’t know about anyone else, but that is not what I wanted when I came to Fairfield. The University should have been more selective with the construction being done on campus. I understand why Fairfield chose to redo the Leslie C. Quick Recreational Complex and the dining hall. These buildings were outdated and did not have enough space to accommodate the influx of students arriving on campus. However, Fairfield should have chosen a more strategic time to update the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Dolan School of Business. The School of Nursing was not unusable and was large enough to accommodate the nursing majors. While the new building is very modern and large, it was unnecessary to update that school while the rest of the campus was also being overhauled.
The main issues Fairfield University was facing prior to these construction projects was a lack of space. The school needed to increase the space in the dining hall, which they did. The school also needed to increase space in the RecPlex and update it, which they did. The school also needs to expand parking on campus for commuters and upperclassmen, which they are doing with the new parking garage in front of the Aloysius P. Kelley Center. The rest of the construction is superfluous and could have waited for a few years. Of course, years down the line, new admits to Fairfield University will get to enjoy fresh and modern buildings but at this moment, I do not believe it was worth it. Construction should be done as needed and not be crammed in all over campus to hinder the environment that Fairfield students are paying a very high amount to enjoy.
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