Major UM South Quad Renovation OK’d

A $60 million renovation of the South Quad residence hall will move forward, following approval by the University of Michigan board of regents at their Sept. 20, 2012 meeting. Regents also authorized hiring SmithGroupJJR to design the project.

The dormitory, built in 1951 and located at 600 E. Madison, houses about 1,180 students as well as the university’s honors program. The project would entail renovating 106,700 square feet of the building’s first two floors, and includes expanded student dining facilities, community spaces, updated bathrooms and other infrastructure upgrades.

In brief remarks to the board, Royster Harper – UM’s vice president for student affairs – described the work that would be done, saying it would begin in May of 2013 and take about a year. She also alluded to comments in the media that had referred to UM student housing as luxurious, and she assured the board that this was not the case. The comments make her “quite angry,” she said, adding that renovations include things like putting in shower doors rather than “plastic curtains that sort of stick to your rear.” The changes are simply trying to improve the student experience, Harper concluded.

This brief was filed from the Michigan Union’s Anderson Room on the Ann Arbor campus, where regents held their September meeting.