If those renderings are to be fully believed, there's going to be a Dunkin' Donuts and a fire pit?!? That is VERY impressive for a college dining hall.

Commons is going to replaced now as well (much needed IMO): http://bgnews.com/campus/demolition-of- ... ons-sense/

Check out the link with the additional pictures, and look at the first picture. They are blocked from being posted, so I can't post it. However, if you check it out, it won't be attached to Mac in anyway, and the view they give you is as if you were standing southeast of the dining center. A few jokes I saw on it was the hybrid parking (are we seriously going to be like that and start enforcing stupid crap like this?), gated employee parking, customer parking (we will have customers that need to drive to this dining center?), swinging benches (any guesses on how long until those are destroyed?), and the fire pit (because we will obviously only burn approved items in this pit).

from this article : http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/news/2010/news83304.html
it seems that there could be a dunkin' donuts.. and they do mention a fire pit...

Here's a link to what the room lay-outs and amenities will be both of the new housing units.

If I understand correctly - both are a private/public venture between the University and a developer.

Its VERY good news that BG is going forward with new "dorms". The housing at OSU is horrid. Sam was in Haverfield House this past year and it was a DUMP. All the "rooms" were 4 person rooms. The rooms were two rooms sided-by-side (about the size of two quad rooms - one for two bunk beds and four open "closets" and one with four desks crammed in it. And a small bathroom..... the shower base was a concrete box just formed on the floor..... and the boys had to clean their own bathrooms. Certainly cuts down on OSU's janitorial costs. At best that dorm has had the carpet changed and painted, otherwise there had been no improvements to that dorm. And the dorms he stayed in for orientation were just as bad - tells you something since you typically put your incoming freshman in your best housing for orientation. He has an apartment for the upcoming year.

Housing is a critical recruitment/enrollment tool - I think - (Transfer would you agree?) And to have these really nice modern dorms being constructed is a good thing. I would wager that we will eventually see on-campus housing reduce their units over the next 5-10 years. Its costly to maintain.

I also like the look of the dining hall. Nicholas wants to live in Mac since he'll be spending most of his time traveling between Old campus and Technology/Poe Road. It will be nice to have the new dining halls.

As far as the Commons.... (I lived in Rodgers my first year and it was all-male back then and known as the zoo)... I liked it for all of the south facing glass. I really liked going there for breakfast on the weekends for a leisurely breakfast and I would sit next to the windows and feel the sun coming through and heating up the space on those cold winter days. But compared to the "Retaily" design of the new dining halls - that barn of a space would seem harsh and cold. (And of course.... it could get loud in there)

We've only done one campus tour so far with our daughter (at UC-San Diego) and they don't include a look at dorm rooms on their tours. And this was during the summer when you would assume there would be a lot of empty rooms available to be shown. So, no, I don't think housing is that big a recruitment tool.

Or they don't want you to see the dorms......

Miami has a two-person dorm room set-up which is part of their tour. I have taken this tour twice and both times its a conversation start for some of the parents and recruits.

I think it could be part of the decision when you get down to a couple of schools and you are making a decision. I think it has to do with Student Life and the commitment a school has to it.

Tech, I would appreciate a little more of an opinion on the new construction design from a craftsman.

You're slacking.

If you have nice accommodations, then you include a tour of a residence hall on your campus tour and you mention it to the students over and over and over. Michael Griffel finally got some power-that-is to listen to the fact that we were severley lacking with our residence halls. UT may have gotten some negative press when they moved their students out at the semester break a few years ago, but they moved the students into the newer halls. We moved students out of the "crappy" halls and into other "crappy" halls when we shut down Harshman Anderson and Bromfield a few years ago for renovation.

The private college I worked at in North Carolina, we showed a room in the womens' residence hall (which mirrored the men's EXCEPT for the private bathroom). No need to show the crappy men's hall when the rooms were the same size and layout.

Look for MAJOR residence hall construction over the next five years. These two new halls are only the beginning.

Its hard to say a lot on the little rendering that is provided for either of the residential halls. I think the individual rooms look great and are a vast improvement over the old quad style rooms. I think students won't mind living two years on campus if they are getting these types of rooms. Knowing the other amenities in the building would be helpful.

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the Rodgers Replacement is a U-shaped building with the quad open to the west. (Looking at the construction camera) We'll need to see what happens with the Commons and how this space is eventually framed and how this fits into the rest of the campus plan.

Siting the building is the most important thing with college buildings and frankly... BG doesn't do a bang up job all the time. But those spaces between buildings are the active areas that create or break campus life. I think East Hall is horribly placed and maybe its presence is what "Rodgers" is struggling to resolve.

Umm... one issue I do have... looking at the Northcentral dorm.... its being built with metal studs and gypsum..... these buildings will not be around in 50 years with the abuse that they will take from students.... I'm just saying. But then again.... I'd probably being doing them the same since this is being done by a developer and not the U.

The Mac Dining Hall looks great. This is the type of building I would be doing on this site..... very Collage City. I like the idea of putting the "Dunkin' Donuts at the street and entry point to campus. I can see it serving not only the on-campus residential, but all students, faculty, and employees.... AND even the city of BG. I like how the building (glass area) opens into campus. Imagine sitting in that space on a cold winter morning feeling the warmth of the sun. And being protected by the brutal western sun for dinner. The additional and connection to the exterior spaces is great. This could be the sleeper project on campus..... while everyone is all a dither about the Wolfe Center (the ugly shoe box shoved into the ground with large faceless shear walls of metal to greet the passing student with gun slot entrances barely presenting themselves to campus. But putting a big glassy entrance to...... a parking lot...... how effing surburban.... we should have just built a big box retailer on the site and been done with it.... temporary end of rant).

RUIT.... would you like more

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Wolfe Center is an abomination.

No, that will suffice. Carry on. I like the styling of the Wolf building; however, I don't see it fulfilling its intent: bridging the arts so to speak. It's out of sync with the MMAC and Art building from a design aspect. They would have been better served with a more classic modernist style to bridge the two style of buildings [styled natural stonework and roof to ceiling glass. That would have been beautiful and fitting of the space.
But that's just me.

Throughout the course of this thread, I think we have missed a particular aspect to the construction process.

They have gone completely insane!

I just came from campus. There is no way that they are ready for classes to start next week. Half the campus is either being torn down our built up. You can't cross ridge street at any point from the start of the Wolfe center to Hayes hall. Parking will be a nightmare. The lot on the northwest corner is now a future residence hall. Lot 6 is the future Stroh center. The faculty lot by Anderson Arena is currently closed/inaccessible (which might be fixed soon...might). There are sidewalks missing everywhere. The list goes on and on. It is a nightmare.

I am glad that I am done with college...at least for a while. I would not want to be doing a mission impossible drill every time I had to get from one class to the next.

I totally agree. Parking will be a nightmare this coming semester. Go to the BGSU parking map to see what they have done as far as updates. The only issue is that some of the lots they have listed are not open yet due to construction. To make matters worse, I have an exam I have to take 1:00-5:00 tomorrow afternoon, and I got an email from BGSU parking & traffic stating lot closures for move-in. Essentially every parking lot remotely close to campus will be closed for move-in. I am waiting on an email reply to my parking question, "Where should I park?"

Park off-campus and walk.