The new suite seen from Bonnie Brae with the parking structure on the right.

The fund raising is well underway, the basic floor plan is on paper, the location and timetable have passed the preliminary stage, the approval process with the village of River Forest is half finished. It looks like Concordia University Chicago (CUC) is going to build the first new dorm on its campus in decades and simultaneously re-furbish Mary Martha Hall north.

The new suite will be connected to Trusheim Hall

If all goes as planned construction should start July 2016 and finish July 2017. The remodeling of Mary Martha north will cost about $3 million. The building will be re-christened Trusheim Hall, for the Trusheim family who donated $750,000 to get this project started. The new five story residence hall will cost about $16 million and is yet to be named. The new building will be just east of Trusheim Hall and connected by a glassed in walkway.

The accommodations will consist of 5 x 1 suites, five single bedrooms with two full bathrooms and a kitchenette and 2 x 1 suites, two double bedrooms with two full bathrooms and a kitchenette. The new suite is designed to house 147 students in 48,000 square feet. Although the residence hall may open before it is completed, “we may, in the new building, not finish all of the floors initially in order to meet budget” according to Dr. Denny Witte, Vice President of Administration.

The campus is not short of housing, the dorm is being built to create nicer, modern housing to keep us competitive with other universities.

What else does the future hold for CUC? “Nothing firm,” said Dr. Witte “in the longer range, after this, we would love to take down, probably Gross Hall, and put up another new res hall where Gross Hall sits.”

The university’s 39 acres are landlocked so any new construction after this new residence hall will require the razing of an existing structure.