Students moving into the new Redondo Village Apartments can expect more parking, nicer furniture, larger laundry facilities and new safety precautions.
With the $12.65 million construction project completed early last week, the new residence hall has raised questions about safety because parts of it face the high-crime intersection of Central Avenue and Girard Boulevard.
UNM student housing officials said they have adequately answered concerns by implementing several safeguards for the new dorm, which houses 400 students.
Wayne Sullivan, senior area coordinator for Redondo Village Apartments, said phones with emergency pre-dial buttons and emergency call boxes are outside and inside all doors.
Sullivan said all perimeter doors are locked and equipped with an intercom system so students can let their friends in.
“This is to try and stop doors from being propped open,” he said.
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Sullivan said that the student security staff has been doubled, with students patrolling different zones from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. He added that the building area is well-lit.
Randy Boeglin, dean of students and director of residence life, said that as a preventative measure, no female students were assigned rooms on the ground floor facing Central Avenue or Girard Boulevard.
He said he thinks there will be a future assessment to see if the building is totally secure.
“You never know,” Boeglin said.
He said he also wants to work on residence education, emphasizing that the area might be safer if everyone considers safety a responsibility.
Matt Michaliszyn, a Redondo Village Apartments ground-floor resident, said he would feel safer on the second floor, but that he will make sure to close his blinds when he’s not there.
Julie Weldon, the student head resident advisor, said she feels very safe in the building and that advisors make rounds in the area.
Michaliszyn and Weldon said they liked moving into the new apartments.
“I like the furniture; it’s homey,” Weldon said. “I like the windows. There’s a lot of light. I like the architecture. It’s good for building community and residents getting to know each other. I think it’s great to be across from Johnson Field.”
Each apartment in Redondo has four single bedrooms, a kitchen and a living area, as well as a segmented bathroom that offers privacy.
The bathroom consists of a shower in one room, a toilet in another room, and an open sink area in between the rooms.
The four parts of the building, which took about a year to build, have different color schemes. Furniture, surfaces, tiles and carpets are various shades of blue, for example, in one of the wings.
Michaliszyn said he enjoys not having to deal with holes in the walls or stains that often show up when moving into older dorms. He added, however, that the new building has new problems to contend with.
“The thermostats aren’t working and the new pipes made the water taste funny so I bought some bottled water,” he said.
Sullivan said more than 200 parking spaces are available for residents.
“They were able to actually squeeze in more spots,” he said.
Sullivan said a new parking zone system for all the residence halls is now in effect. He said all the parking zones around the residence halls used to be for the D-permit, which now has been split into two zones: D-permit and R-permit.
D-permit zones include all parking around Alvarado Hall, Coronado Hall and the Redondo Village Apartments, he said. The R-permit zone includes the CIRT lot, Santa Ana Hall and Hokona Hall, he said.
“In theory, this is something we’re trying,” Sullivan said. “Parking services actually approached us and said they wanted to zone us, and they’re not overselling the lots at all. So, when you get a parking permit, you should be able to find a spot in whatever lot it is that you have it for.”
Boeglin said the only thing left is some landscaping and a few finishing touches for the building.
“We’re pleased we’re able to get this project done in time for the beginning of school, and I think students are going to find it to be a very livable facility,” he said.
