With Maple Hall finally full of residents, the next order of business for the Department of Residence’s Master Plan is the Hawthorn Court project, which broke ground during the summer.

Randy Alexander, director of residence, said Hawthorn will be different than Maple Hall, which was designed predominantly as a new student area.

“Hawthorn Court is designed for older students,” he said.

Alexander said the area will have reduced staffing appropriate for the more experienced residents, who will be primarily single upperclassmen.

Maple Hall has a ratio of one staff member for every 28 students, while Hawthorn Court will employ one staff member for every 250 students.

“There will be fewer staff because we don’t think the older students need as many as the younger students,” Alexander said.

The apartment-style housing will feature four-person apartments clustered in 23 buildings. Each apartment will be completely furnished with a kitchen and a washer and dryer.

“These will be fully furnished apartments, with furniture, Ethernet connections in every bedroom and cable hook-ups in the living room,” he said.

Alexander said students who are of legal age will be allowed to consume alcohol in their apartments, and smoking policies will be determined by the occupants of the apartment. The newly renovated Maple Hall is a substance-free environment.

“We’re trying to diversify living arrangements to meet people’s needs better,” he said.

Alexander said the Hawthorn project will be completed in two phases, with the first 11 buildings to be open to residents beginning next fall.

The second phase of the project, which includes building a multi-purpose community center, is expected to be completed in time for the Fall 2001 semester.

“The community center will contain a dining area, fitness center, small business center, convenience store, amenities center, postal services and meeting rooms,” he said.

Alexander said the area is designed to have parking areas located around the outside, allowing larger spaces of grass and park areas between the buildings.

The new Hawthorn Court also will offer a standard 12-month lease or an academic school year lease option that would allow students to leave for the summer and not be held liable to pay for an entire year.

“We’re trying to put up different kinds of things that cater to different types of people,” he said.

Inter-Residence Hall President Dave Sims, senior in mechanical engineering, believes Hawthorn “will be a great success for the Department of Residence and for Iowa State.”