Grace College and Seminary broke ground Tuesday afternoon on its third dormitory in as many years.
The new housing development will be a three-story, 172-bed dormitory south of Kent Hall. The 41,275-square-foot building will include study locations, community living areas and another residence option for students to choose from, according to a provided press release.
“What a wonderful day on campus,” Grace President Dr. Bill Katip said after the groundbreaking, admiring the sunny weather. “We had a big picnic for faculty and staff. This is the third dorm we’ve started in three years.”
The 80-bed townhouse-style dorm – called Lancer Lofts – was completed last year, and the 110-room Hillside Lodge was finished the year before that, he said.
The new dormitory will be 1,946 square feet on the lower level. The first floor will be 13,532 square feet with 28 rooms for 56 students and include a bistro/café, study area, great room, laundry facilities and the residential director suite. Twenty-eight rooms also will be on the 13,339-square-foot second floor, which will include a study area, game room, laundry and residential director suite. The 12,458-square-foot third floor will have 30 rooms for 60 students and include a study area, theater, group study and laundry.
Katip said the addition of dormitories reflects the confidence in Grace’s growth. He attributed part of that growth to the college’s Measure of Grace program.
“The Measure of Grace for incoming students makes housing more affordable when tuition costs are reduced,” he said.
In the Measure of Grace program, effective this year, students who enroll at Grace as full-time, traditional undergraduates will never pay higher tuition once they enroll. Each consecutive year a student attends Grace full time, he or she also will receive a $500 tuition reduction, which leads to an additional savings of up to $3,000. All textbook rentals are free for those undergraduates, saving an additional $4,800 over their four-year stay.
“It’s an exciting time,” Katip said. “Our community is phenomenal to us. … It’s great to live and work in this community.”
For the new dorms, Grace is working with Design Collaborative, the architecture firm that designed the Lodge, Lancer Lofts and the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center; Weigand Construction of Fort Wayne; and Holladay Properties, a South Bend–based commercial real estate firm, according to the press release.
“This new dorm will accommodate many more students due to our rapidly rising enrollment rate,” Aaron Crabtree, dean of students at Grace, is quoted as saying in the press release. “We are excited to break ground this July and look forward to having additional housing for the new students who will arrive for the fall of 2016.”
Grace College and Seminary is an evangelical Christian community of higher education that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and applies biblical values in strengthening character, sharpening competence and preparing for service, according to the press release. Grace College also offers “flexible online graduate degrees, on-campus and online degree completion programs and highly affordable, easily accessible degree programs in Detroit, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. The 180-acre main campus is located in the historic resort town of Winona Lake,” the release states.
(Story by The Times Union)
