The expansion construction at Frederiksen Court has caused a lot of noise disturbance and parking inconvenience, said Anastacia Macallister, graduate student in mechanical engineering.

This construction has especially affected the Frederiksen Court buildings 11 to 13 and buildings 31 to 34, also called teens cluster and 30s cluster.

Peter Englin, director of residence, said the current noise disturbance and parking inconvenience is just a process of the construction, part of life and it is a solution, which will bring ease in the long term.

“Part of the growth process that we go through is there’s a level of inconvenience, and we’re really trying to provide a solution to another problem that students have complained to us about is not having adequate places on campus to live,” Englin said.

The ISU campus is growing at a fast rate and the demand for more on-campus housing is increasing, causing the construction expansion.

“It’s just hard being a student,” Macallister said. “I mean, you’re up studying, … and then we kind of keep weird hours, sometimes, because the night … [is] time to do your homework or something, and you know when you get woken up before classes start — even the crack of dawn — is just kind of inconveniencing; you don’t get a lot of sleep.”

Due to the construction, parking lots in front of the 30s buildings are closed. This resulted in the opening of the parking lots across the road on 13th Street.

“There’s really not much you can do about it; I mean it’s just there. We kind of gripe and complain about it,” Macallister said. “It’s definitely been a big hassle and inconvenience for a lot of people.”’

Macallister is not only concerned for herself but for other residents’ safety.

“At night it’s kind of hard, there’s only a crosswalk there. It’s not like we have a light,” Macallister said. “You kind of just sit and wait for the cars to stop, and when you see a break in the traffic you run to get across the street, and when it gets a little icy, it’s not exactly the safest thing.” 

Macallister said that the growth of the university is important but also said they feel forgotten and neglected.

“Well, we do understand that we need to make more space; it’d be nice if they kind of mitigated the effects on the current residents a little more,” Macallister said.

The Frederiksen Court council and the Department of Residence both work together to make decisions and work on ideas that will help the situation.

“We kind of look at it as part of life and progress, not necessarily not caring about the student experience or that we’re not aware that there’s a level of inconvenience, but we always ask that students kind of bear with us. This is a great solution to a larger problem as enrollment grows,” Englin said.

Englin understands the discomfort of the residents at Frederiksen Court.

Englin said, “The reality is Frederiksen Court residents enjoy better parking than most employees or most every other student that’s at Iowa State.”

Englin thinks that this is a change that the residents will have to get accustomed to.

“We know they’re frustrated and on the other hand, we’re also trying to be excited about the dealing with the bigger problem,” Englin said.

To avoid having students living in the dens of residence halls, the increase of campus occupancy through the Frederiksen Court expansion is necessary in order to accommodate more students who want to live on campus.

“We’re opening up new Frederiksen Court buildings. We’ll have two buildings that are able to open this fall,” said Brittney Rutherford, program coordinator for the Department of Residence.

Rutherford said that the sum of parking ratio will maintain and more parking lots will be made available, but they will not be in the same spots, they will be spread out.

“We’re trying to make the impact as minimal as possible on the students, but there definitely are some inconveniences and we know that, it’s kind of part of our growing pains a little bit in order to get the buildings built and welcome over 200 new residents this fall, we have to construct now,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford also said that the construction timings are difficult to adjust according to the students’ schedules, for they vary from one student to another.

The construction work goes on during normal work days and hours.

Englin apologized and appreciates the patience and understanding of the students who are going through this problem.

“I think that it’s important that students know that we’re sorry for the inconvenience, we really are; we understand that this comes with a certain amount of inconvenience on their part, and we appreciate it,” Englin said.