PHOTOS BY TEDDY LINK
Do you think more than your grades could be slipping this block here at Colorado College? Are you an upperclassman concerned about your living situation falling through for you this year?
Well, although the Catalyst cannot ensure all aspects of college life, fear not, Western Ridge residents—your apartments aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Despite recent anonymous rumors spread around CC saying that these on-campus apartments are sinking into the ground, after meeting with Justin Weis, Associate Director Residential Life and Housing, and Rick Greene, Sr. Project Manager, it is safe to say that these housing facilities are here to stay.
Built in Sept. 2000, these apartments go through annual spring-break inspections in which personnel such as Weis and Greene go through each part of the residences.
When asked what actually would indicate winking apartments, Weis said, “During the inspections, we’d see windows sinking, drywall cracking, and pressure points revealing.” Immediately, tenants would be informed and problems would be tended to.
The current Western Ridge Apartment layout consists of: Antero, Blanca, Edith Gaylord, El Diente, and John Lord Knight.
All in all there were “originally ten in the drawings, but occupancy and budget dictated otherwise,” said Weis, leading there now to be the eight standing buildings in the complex.
Many building materials came from the remains of the 1883 fire of the Antlers Hotel downtown. Each was built over a 12”x12”x18’ wood construction and fortified concrete foot spreading, and the base of the hill was further thickened by concrete. After months of hard labor and perfectionism, these apartments opened up to the student body in Jan. 2002.
When it came down to checking out whether the apartments had been sliding down into the ground due to stability or any other technical fault, Greene and Weis actually took me out to the grounds to show me measurements.
It turns out that over the past 12 years, “Blanca has shifted down less than an eighth of a foot from east to west, John Lord Knight has shifted a half foot lower on the west end, and El Diente has shifted about a half foot over four stories of lumber—all of these are due to shrinkage of materials,” according to Greene.
Essentially, the residents are safe! In fact, residents such as Nicholas Nilert, junior, said he “can’t see these rumors being true” and senior Janine Armstead said “no” when asked if she saw changes to her living conditions. So next time you think you’re sliding down the hills of Western Ridge, it’s not the sustainability; it’s you.
Candelaria Alcat, Guest Writer
Wonderful article!!
Nice article!