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Improvements to University Housing facilities have three years down and three more to go.
Keyless entry systems and fire sprinklers were installed during the summer into four Thompson Point residence halls, said Deputy Housing Director Glenn Stine. The amenities are all part of a long-term housing plan to upgrade undergraduate dormitories that began three years ago with the installation of the same systems at the high-rise residence halls, Stine said.
Though they are familiar to residents of Brush Towers and Neely Hall, keyless entry systems are new to Thompson Point. Until the end of the spring 2008 semester, residents of Steagall, Pierce, Brown and Bowyer Halls had two keys; one for access to the building and another to unlock their room.
Stine said all of Thompson Point and University Hall are scheduled to be using keyless entry by fall 2010. A year later, all undergraduate housing will have keyless entry, he said.
The keyless entry system's main components are a black box mounted next to the exterior door and a thumb-sized piece of plastic, commonly known as a fob. At the beginning of the year, tenants are given fobs that have been assigned a serial code. To get into the building, the tenant waves the plastic piece in front of the box. If the serial code matches, the doors are unlocked.
Pierce Hall resident Jeff Green, a freshman from Lincoln studying civil engineering, said having a keyless entry system makes things a lot easier than they could have been.
"If your hands are full, it's easier to wave your hand instead of digging for keys," Green said. "I have a buddy that lives in Bailey that wishes he had one."
Since each fob has its own serial code, Stine said housing officials are now able to see who is in the building, which increases security.
As an added measure, security cameras have been installed by the front doors of buildings using keyless entry. Stine said cameras would show when guests accompany tenants.
Green said he was unsure if the cameras and keyless entry would successfully boost the security measures at Thompson Point.
Stine said there are no plans to have a 24-hour check-in desk at Thompson Point like those at Brush Towers and Neely Hall.
As an added safety upgrade, the same four Thompson Point residence halls upgraded to keyless entry also received fire sprinkler systems for the first time.
Stine said the introduction of sprinklers in residence halls began three years ago when Schneider, Mae Smith and Neely Halls received the fire extinguishing systems to increase safety. Since then, the state legislature and Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved a law requiring all Illinois colleges to equip residence halls with sprinklers by January 2013. Stine said the halls SIUC plans to keep open should be done by then.
Southern Hills and Greek Row are not scheduled to receive the mandatory upgrades and therefore will not have residents in them starting in August 2012, Stine said.
Stine said housing used the revenue allocated through bond sales from three years ago to pay for the improvements. But for other improvements, such as new carpet and a renovated lobby in Mae Smith Hall, new exterior shades at Thompson Point and new furniture in Neely Hall, funding comes from the student housing fees.
After the Triads are upgraded to keyless entry in 2011, Stine said he does not know of any plans for further upgrades. One of the proposals was to switch dorm room keys to keycards, similar to those used in most hotels. But Stine said that is not in the foreseeable future.
"It's not been talked about for over a year," he said.
Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 263 or barton.lorimor@siude.com.
