James Fox, Campus Carrier staff writer

With the construction of Morgan-Bailey hall underway, many have raised questions about how its construction will affect campus life and the surrounding area. While students have worried about potential road closures, Assistant Vice President of Campus Safety and Land Management Gary Will said there should be no closures.

“What you see out there right now with the fenced in area is all that’s going to be affected by the construction,” Will said. “Now there might be construction traffic on the road, but there will be no roads closed. I don’t think anyone will be affected by the traffic.”

Some people have also raised concerns about the trees being cut down, the area’s landscaping and plans for sidewalks.

“I believe they are planning on replanting the trees for landscaping purposes,” Will said. “My guess is that there will be new sidewalks, but I don’t know for sure. We are not eliminating any sidewalks, so I’ll leave it at that.” 

Freshman Dhruv Narashimalu hopes that new sidewalks around Morgan-Bailey will be built.

“I am very pro-sidewalk,” Narashimalu said. “I think having sidewalks placed as the landscapers see fit will be just fine.”

Freshman Reagan Jones questioned the building’s separation from McAllister and the Animal Science building, which also house STEM programs. 

“I thought it was interesting where it’s being built,” Jones said. “It is in a very opposite direction from [McAllister] and just being so separated from the math and science buildings even though it’s in a similar field is just a weird separation.” 

Narashimalu appreciates the building’s proximity to Morton-Lemley and Dana.

“I live in Dana, so it’s very close to where I live,” Narashimalu said. “So for all the folks living in MoLem, Dana, Thomas Berry and all these different dorms, I think it’s a reasonable spot. For the folks that live out in Ford, they have my pity.” 

Morgan-Bailey, when completed, will open another living location for students. Its third floor will be used for upperclassmen housing. Jones said it feels strange to have student housing in an academic building.

“It just feels weird to me to combine one of the academic buildings with a resident building—people wanting to go up to their rooms and there being classes going on and having a bunch of different people there,” Jones said. “I also think, being a new residence hall, it’s going to be super competitive to get in there. I think having the dorms on the top floor is going to be annoying for [students] as well.” 

Parking going forward has been on many students’ minds. Morgan-Bailey is being built in the former Moon parking lot. Jones said that getting rid of a parking lot will only exacerbate parking problems. 

“I think having less parking is just going to be difficult because we already have such little [parking space], and especially since most students live on campus, there won’t be many open parking spots for anyone that does need to commute or any visitors,” Jones said. “I feel like it’s going to be an awkward situation.” 

Despite many students’ complaints about the removal of the Moon parking lot, the construction of Morgan-Bailey, set to be complete for the Fall of 2025, will appear to have little to no effect on campus life.