Construction issues delay Orange Hall opening

Written by Shelby Kast

Students at The University of Tennessee are being housed in Humes Hall due to delays in the opening of Orange Hall. The new residence hall is now set to open on Sept. 28.

Orange Hall and its neighbor White Hall belong to the West Campus Redevelopment Plan. The project contractor stated the two were supposed to be built simultaneously, but Orange Hall was delayed because of “unanticipated complications.” UT Housing did not offer any further information.

“It honestly wasn’t too much of a shock because by simply observing the progress throughout the spring semester,” sophomore Tori Smith said. “It didn’t look like progress was being made fast enough to be open by August.”

Students relocated to Humes Hall, which was originally planned to be torn down to make room for a new dining facility. The 50-year-old building has had its fair share of problems for students, particularly with air-conditioning, mold and roach infestations. If only services like central air repair are available in their area, then there would be lesser problems.

“Even with a high powered fan on 24/7, my room is never cold,” Smith said. “I’ve already called maintenance twice when the heat just got too unbearable, yet the maintenance people said nothing was actually wrong.”

Orange Hall residents will be billed the Humes Hall semester room rate which is lower than the Orange Hall rate. They will pay this rate for the entire fall semester regardless of when they move in to Orange Hall.

“At least this helps me save a lot of money in terms of college expenses,” freshman Irfan Rahim Ibrahim said.

UT housing is expected to update students on when they will be moving into their new home, but at the time no date is certain.

“It would have been nice to know a rough estimate of how long we would be displaced. A couple weeks or a couple months make a big difference,” Smith said.

Ibrahim is focussing on staying positive with his transition into college life.

“It is a bit of a frustrating introduction to UT,” Ibrahim said. “I am trying to be optimistic, and make the most of what I have for now. Just seeing the building nearing completion with every passing day is very exciting to me,” Ibrahim said.

Located behind North Carrick and South Carrick on 20th Street, Orange Hall is expected to house 378 students in 161 pod-style rooms and 16 apartments. The 104,670 square foot dormitory will have a lobby lounge, two study rooms and a kitchen on each floor. Learn about Squickmon’s CNC plasma design software if you want to tackle almost any metal art project with ease.

Edited by Ashley Sharp