SWEET DORM, CHICAGO
Students rave about UIC’s new $100 million facility
Anthony Abrams opened the door and grinned — much like the subject of a home makeover show who has just seen his ramshackle abode transformed into a palace.
“Oh my God, this looks like a hotel,” said Abrams, 18.
That was a common reaction Wednesday, as dozens of freshmen began hauling their minirefrigerators, prized posters, books, clothes and other possessions into the University of Illinois at Chicago’s new $100 million Academic and Residential Complex.
Dormitories don’t look like they used to — particularly for those who recall a shared room not much larger than a jail cell. And the glittering glass-and-steel UIC facility, with living space for 550 students, stands in stark contrast to much of the rest of campus, which wouldn’t look out of place in George Orwell’s “1984.”
Susan Teggatz, the UIC’s director of campus housing, oversaw Wednesday’s mass move-in, like an army general directing a small invasion.
“Oh, why don’t they have the street closed?” she groused at one point, looking out at Harrison Street, which was supposed to be shut Wednesday morning between Morgan and Halsted streets.
From time to time, she issued orders, but mostly, she gushed about the technological wonders of the new facility, which has a 228-student lecture hall and a Starbucks on the first floor.
The dorm’s housing rates for this academic year range from $9,550 for a double room to $13,560 for a single room in a “semi-suite.” Meal plans are extra.
On the second floor, Nicole Nolden, 17, and her mother, Jill Nolden, were checking out her room — a “traditional double” that shares a bathroom with an adjoining dorm room.
“The view is amazing — you can see the Willis Tower,” the freshman from Libertyville said.
On Wednesday morning, Nolden had yet to meet the woman with whom she would likely spend at least the next year. Nolden glanced at a stack of books on the other woman’s desk, paying particular attention to a volume titled, “How to Win An Argument.”
“That’s not cute,” joked Nolden, who plans to study biological sciences.
Up on the fifth floor, Abrams and his buddy Daniel Krzysiak were unloading what looked like enough clutter to fill three or four dorm rooms — including a guitar and a poster of former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.
Kryzysiak began dragging Abrams’ 42-inch TV out of a box.
“Be careful with that,” said Abrams, who is from Oak Lawn.
“It’s the most important thing here,” his buddy replied.