Cokesbury Court Apartments have undergone changes in the past few weeks.
A ramp was added last week outside Cokesbury Clubhouse to make it more accessible. Officials wanted it to be more accessible for people in wheelchairs, people on crutches and mail deliveries, said Elizabeth Harney, associate director of housing and residence life.
Before the ramp was added, parents with infants experienced difficulties entering the Clubhouse, said Devon Murphy, administrative assistant for housing and residence life.
“Families with babies who need to be pushed in strollers would have to come up here, and they could either pick everything up and come up the two steps here or go all the way around to the other side, so it was just something that needed to be done,” Murphy said.
The new ramp is a positive change to the Cokesbury Clubhouse, said Elsa Moen, acting junior and Cokesbury resident.
“At first I didn’t know what the ramp was going to be, I was just like, ‘wow, there’s a lot of construction over here, okay,’ but when I was going to get a package, I saw it and I was like, ‘oh this is so cool, it’s going make people who have wheelchairs or, you know, elderly citizens, it’s going to give people easier access to the doors,” Moen said.
The gates are an ongoing process, and updating the card readers is a possibility in the future, Harney said.
“We’re always trying to ensure the safety of our students,” she said. “We’re always on the lookout for where else we need card readers, maybe updating the software and things like that, so in theory, you can say that there’s always something being worked on, and it’s just a matter of funding and how quickly the projects can actually get done.”
If officials decide to put working card readers in place, it will make the apartments safer, but could cause more problems, Moen said.
“What if you forget your card and you can’t get out or you can’t get in, then what are you supposed to do? I think that will make it difficult,” she said.
All construction and maintenance at Cokesbury is controlled by an outside party, Campus Living Villages. Cokesbury officials meet with Campus Living Villages officials several times a year to determine what projects to put in place.
Jackie Hughes, director of national operations for Campus Living Villages, said officials are considering what to do about card readers and Wi-Fi.
“We are currently obtaining bids and reviewing the options available to us for the complex doors. We also understand the importance of Wi-Fi to our students, and we have discussed options for providing Wi-Fi at Cokesbury Court, but we have not decided on a specific date,” she said.
Hughes said Campus Living Villages is self-sustaining, meaning that its expenses are paid through its profits.
“The cost of the ramp was approximately $11,600,” she said. “Money for projects is allotted during the yearly village budget creation.”
Harney said construction or maintenance concerns must first come through her office before being discussed with Campus Living Villages officials.
“We’re the contact between the students and the company, so if students express things that are issues or express concerns, then we work with them on that, but again, it’s a process,” she said.
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