Concordia Journal Home > Archives > September 11, 2008 issue >

Private residence opens doors 

Finding classrooms and picking up supplies keep most students busy for the first few weeks of school. For out-of-town students, figuring out where to get groceries and how to set up an apartment are more tasks added to the list.

Residence life offers a midway point between staying home and striking out on one’s own. Parents and students alike appreciate housing that provides neighbours who are also possible classmates, supervision in the form of older, wiser residence assistants and quarters that come supplied with the basic furnishings. Residents can also use rooms reserved for meal preparation, study or movie-watching.

Currently, Concordia has 434 beds on two campuses reserved for students from out of town. “But we can’t supply the beds to meet the demand,” acknowledged Laurel Leduc, Residence Admissions Coordinator.

Peter Bolla, Associate Vice-President of Facilities Management, said Concordia has reserved 44 beds (one full floor) in a new private residence building that opened up on Ste. Catherine St., just east of the Bay.

“Melanie Drew and I met with the promotors and were happy with the quality of the space,” said Bolla. He added that the company has experience with similar projects in Ontario.

Students who could not get rooms through the university were offered the opportunity to apply to the 515 Ste. Catherine residence. The project offers multi-bedroom apartments with study, exercise and media rooms located throughout the building.

Bolla explained that although the application process is external to Concordia, a residence assistant was provided through the university to help guide newbies through life in Montreal.

Bolla said the door is open to take on more space next year, if things work out.
Meanwhile, he is currently president of the Cité Universitaire project, which is looking into developing a shared residence for Montreal universities’ international students.

Sites are being scouted in the same area as the 515 residence. Concordia is expecting to have a large number of beds in this new project.