A new residence hall and dining hall are on-schedule to open by the fall 2021 semester, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said.
Students can now apply to live in the new Walnut Grove residence hall for the next school year, Carney said.
“They broke ground before the pandemic, and we halted some projects, but this one was already well underway, which is one of the reasons we were able to continue building, which is great,” Carney said.
The Walnut Grove residence hall will be on Walnut Grove Street on the west side of McNutt and Briscoe Quadrangles, said Lukas Leftwich, the executive director of Residential Programs and Services. He also said the new dining hall will be a part of the McNutt central building.
Construction on the residence hall began in fall 2019, and the dining hall construction began last spring, Carney said. The budget for this project, which includes both the residence hall and dining hall, is $99 million, according to Capital Planning and Facilities. The residence hall will house 700 students.
Leftwich said the new dining center will feature many meal options for students while also serving as a great renovation for McNutt Quadrangle. RPS is still planning specific menus but is hoping to serve burgers, soups, sandwiches, salads and all day breakfast.
Leftwich said there are still some doubts about whether or not there can be buffet options at the dining hall or if there needs to be carry-out options because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dining hall will include a Starbucks but it might not be open until September or October because it will be the last addition to be built, Leftwich said.
Leftwich also said there will be a C-store added to McNutt in the fall.
Leftwich said everyone at RPS is excited for the new additions to be finished. Construction has been on-going for over a year, so he said he is glad students will be able to experience the new additions to campus soon.
“We're just really, really excited to have our students be able to go and enjoy the student experience and not look at caterpillar machines out there of their windows,” Leftwich said. “We really think it's gonna really turn that environment over in the Northwest neighborhood into its own really dynamic community.”
