Penn State plans to begin renovating Pollock Halls at University Park campus. What we know
Another round of residence hall renovations is already in the works at Penn State University Park.
The university recently submitted plans to renovate Pollock Halls to the State College borough. The plans were presented to the design review board Tuesday and were on the agenda for Wednesday’s planning commission.
This project, according to the description on the borough’s planning site, will completely renovate nine existing residence halls originally built in the 1960s.
“The project includes removal of hazardous materials, ADA accessibility upgrades, renewed building envelopes, replacement of building systems, and updates to the building aesthetics,” the description states.
During Wednesday’s design review board, members heard an overview of the project from Mark Saville of HRG. They plan to submit a final plan by November.
The renovations will take place in phases. The first of five phases is anticipated to be completed by August 2026; the last phase is estimated to be done by December 2030.
The first phase, 3A, will be the redevelopment of Wolf and Ritner Halls along Pollock Road at the intersection of Bigler Road. Phase 3B will see the repurposing of green space in front of the dining hall, Saville said, and adding recreational spaces into the site. Shulze and Hiester Halls will be done during this phase.
During Phase 3C, they will repurpose the loading dock area for Pollock Halls and renovate Porter and Shunk Halls. They’re adding in trash compactors to minimize the number of dumpsters they have throughout the site, Saville said. Currently, every building has a dumpster and a loading dock; that concept will go away with the redevelopment project.
The largest building, Beaver Hall, will be redeveloped during Phase 3D and in the final phase, 3E, the last two buildings, Mifflin and Hartranft, will be completed. That also includes additional trash compactors to serve the site area, Saville said.
A handful of parking spaces will be lost with the renovations, Saville said. There are currently 382 spaces but some will be repurposed for green space.
“We’re repurposing some of that to allow for better green space, operational access for students … so we are losing about seven spaces currently in our layout,” he said on Wednesday.
The idea behind the design is to enhance the student experience and provide “timeless design solutions.”
The building materials are red terracotta, gray terracotta, gray brick, gray metal panel, aluminum windows and aluminum curtain walls, Saville said.
He added ADA accommodations include mobility assist main entrance vestibules at both sides of the buildings, mobility assist units, accessible units, and units with communication features.
Penn State just completed a major housing project last month when the East Halls Renovation Project was completed after 10 years and all of the dorms were officially back online. In total, 14 halls were renovated and two new halls were built as part of the East Halls project.
The Pollock Halls project is anticipated to begin in May, Penn State previously told the Centre Daily Times. After that is complete, the university will look at renovating West Halls.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 5:40 AM.
