Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Providence College Plans $54M Residence Hall

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/17/22

Providence College in Providence, R.I., has developed plans to build a $54-million, six-story residence hall that could potentially open in September 2023. The Providence City Plan Commission voted on Tuesday, March 15, to approve an amendment to the college’s institutional master plan allowing the college to move forward with construction. The new Shanley Hall, to be named after former college president the Rev. Brian Shanley, would cover about 123,000 square feet and contain beds for 355–360 sophomore students, according to local news.

The new building will allow students to temporarily move out of another campus dormitory, Aquinas Hall, which was built in 1939. Aquinas Hall will see its own series of renovations once the building is vacant, said college spokesman Steven Maurano.

“The rooms are fairly small, and the bathrooms really need to be updated,” Maurano said of Aquinas Hall. “And so, when we go in and renovate that building, I expect that we’re going to renovate it such that we have less rooms in it than we do now. Because when we renovate, we’ll make the existing rooms bigger. The bathrooms will be bigger and more modern.”

Shanley Hall will include amenities like lounges, study rooms, quiet alcoves, meeting rooms and communal kitchens, according to local news.

“This particular building is to accommodate students with our present enrollment on campus,” said Mark Rapoza, assistant vice president for capital projects and facilities for Providence College. “That doesn’t mean in the future we won’t be coming forward with an additional amendment somewhere down the road to create some additional beds if we need to be able to do that.”

Shanley Hall would become the college’s first new residence hall since 2005. The university partnered with architectural firm Symmes Maini & Mckee Associates for the facility’s design.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.

  • Indiana Wesleyan University Schedules Grand Opening for New Welcome Center

    Indiana Wesleyan University recently announced that it will soon open a new Welcome Center on its campus in Marion, Ind., according to a news release. The facility will serve as the home base for prospective students and their families to learn more about the university and student life there. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for February 19.