College Planning & Management

FEB 2013

College Planning & Management is the information resource for professionals serving the college and university market. Covering facilities, security, technology and business.

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Graph D: Median Cost per Sq. Ft. for Residence Hall Buildings university or a community college. In 1997 the median science building $250 cost $167 per sq. ft. Last year the cost $230 was $509 per sq. ft., and one-quarter $210 of the science buildings essentially $190 completed in 2012 cost almost $700 Change from 2011 $170 per square foot. $32 $150 Defining a library building and its $130 role on the campus is going to be an $110 ongoing issue. At one very prestigious college at which I worked, even $90 during the busiest times for term pa$70 pers and studying for final tests, the library was virtually empty. Students 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 were using it and using its materials, but they were doing so electronically Graph E: Median Cost per Sq. Ft. for College Buildings from their residences. If that is the $500 future of college libraries — storing $450 a lot of old books and papers, provid$400 ing information electronically, and $350 interacting personally with a small $300 number of students — how much $250 space does it need? $200 On the other hand, the same $150 question has been asked about pub$100 lic libraries around the United States and, from my reading and observa$50 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 tion, civic libraries are remaking themselves from hushed reading Academic Science Library Residence Halls rooms to becoming more and more the hub of activity for the areas they serve. Will college libraries follow the same path? If so, they will remain the institutional hub, the halls — to distinguish and market themselves. The day of getplace where virtually everybody can be found. If not, they may be ting the cheapest builder to put up the least expensive residences a dying institution. began to wane, and though we still see evidence of that philosophy, Judging by reports we are receiving, many colleges do not see more and more schools — and the designers and builders they are their libraries fulfilling the dynamic role. Fewer new library buildusing — are working and paying to get better living quarters and ings are being reported (only eight this year) and fewer dollars are surroundings, so much so that in 2012, the median residence hall being put into them. Library costs per square foot fell last year to cost $245 per sq. ft., a 15 percent increase over the year before and a $322 (see Graph C on page CR7) and have been pretty stable over the 63 percent increase over 2008. last five years while costs of other building types have been rising. College Planning & Management will take a more comprehenResidence halls (see Graph D) have been inexpensive buildings, sive look at this trend in its Annual Report on Student Housing to costing less than $100 per sq. ft. in 1997 and not reaching $200 until appear in the May issue. CPM 2008. But in the last few years that has changed. In the late 1990s, working on some residential proposals, This Construction Report and the accompanying tables, etc., were the question was how much could students pay and would that compiled by Paul Abramson, education industry consultant for be enough to pay off the cost of the building before the building College Planning & Management magazine and the president of became unusable. That began to change as colleges, competing for Stanton Leggett & Associates, an education consulting firm based in students, pointed to their facilities — including residence Mamroneck, NY. He can be reached at intelled@aol.com. $245 DOWNLOAD THIS REPORT { KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATE } The 18th Annual College Construction Report is available for download on our website at www.planning4education.com. Click on the College Planning & Management magazine link. To find the report, look for the Special Reports section and click on the "18th Annual College Construction Report" link. CR8 CP&M; – 2013 ANNUAL COLLEGE CONSTRUCTION REPORT / FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.PLANNING 4EDUCATION.COM

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