Evergreen board approves bonds for student housing upgrades

OLYMPIA - The Evergreen State College Board of Trustees approved a resolution yesterday authorizing issuance of bonds for significant improvements to the college's residence hall system.

The bonds are expected to be issued for approximately eight million dollars, earmarked for projects leading to renewal of aging facilities as well as adding more capacity.

"We're very excited to get started on this work and are confident that it will make important improvements very visible and valuable to our students," said John Lauer, director of Evergreen's student housing system.

The plans include new flooring and furniture replacement throughout the residence halls, new roofs on the apartment-style halls, a new housing administration center and seismic upgrades to the largest student housing facility on campus, the eight-story 110,000 square foot A-Building.

The plan also includes the addition of thirty new beds to the approximately 1000-bed system. The first phase of residence halls at Evergreen was completed in 1972, and the second phase of apartment-style halls was completed between 1987 and 1989.