Students living in Hawthorn Court, one of three student apartment areas on campus, will be relocated this summer due to renovations.

Beginning June 1, 1999, Hawthorn Court will be under reconstruction as part of the Residence Hall Master Plan.

“It needs a lot of work,” said Carl Moen, associate director of the University Student Apartment Community. “The streets need to be repaired, underground wiring needs to be installed, they do not have kitchen exhausts [and] roofs need to be replaced.”

Hawthorn Court will be rebuilt for use as single student housing. The number of families at Iowa State has decreased since Hawthorn Court was built in 1956 and 1959, so there is no longer a need for the extra married student space, Moen explained.

The new single student housing area will have room for 1,992 people rather than the current 196 total occupants of Hawthorn Court. Four-bedroom as well as two-bedroom apartments will be available.

University Village and Schilletter Village are the other student apartment areas on campus. Families who live in Hawthorn Court will be relocated to these areas. University Village has 500 apartments available and Schilletter Village has 260 available, Moen said.

He said there will be enough room in these two areas for all the families of Hawthorn Court. There may not be enough room for the single students, however.

“The USAC council made a priority policy because of the large number of students desiring housing in the married student housing communities,” said Randy Alexander, director of residence.

The Department of Residence’s first priority will be to hold 10 apartments in University and Schilletter Village for graduate assistants, he said. Single parents will have second priority, and third priority will be given to married students with or without children. Single students will have last priority for housing in University and Schilletter Village.

When the idea was first introduced, many tenants of Hawthorn Court were unhappy with the decision.

“There were some concerns by the families at first, but when they were told they were going to be relocated to the other two communities, they were no longer concerned,” Alexander said.

“The single students still have concerns because they don’t know where they will be living,” he said. “We hope to have a definite plan for their relocation in the next few weeks.”

He said there may be enough space for the single students to move into University Village or Schilletter Village, but it is uncertain.

Singles who will need housing over the summer and do not move into one of the other complexes will be moved into the residence halls. They will then have priority for the new Hawthorn Court apartments next fall.

“As long as the square footage and rent doesn’t change, I’m OK with it,” said David Cmelik, a single Hawthorn Court resident and graduate student in business. “I just want a tub that drains,” he joked.