Students and staff discuss Abercorn Terrace
By Jamee Shae
If you have driven down Abercorn Street this year, you might have passed a newly gated area where many SCAD students can be seen. Starting this quarter, SCAD has welcomed many students to a new residence hall consisting of two buildings, one on 61st Street and another on 62nd Street called Abercorn Terrace.
Abercorn Terrace features 36 two-story apartments that have a living area, kitchen, one bathroom
and two bedrooms that house four students each.
Both students and administration had many things to say about the Terrace about how students are living with the bus schedules and provided security, as well as the improvements that have been made during the school year.
Jason Rigsbee, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life said the new residence halls are “nice locations for amenities off-campus.”
Though the Terrace is adjacent to Habersham Village, where a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurant, laundromat and post office are located, students who do not have cars are limited to taking the bus to classes.
There is a great distance between the Terrace and downtown where most of the academic buildings are located. At the beginning of fall quarter however, there was only one bus stopping at The Terrace every hour.
Ashley Treadway, a second-year student a new Terrace resident, was pleased with the recent changes in bus scheduling. Buses are arriving more frequently, as opposed to the first week of the fall quarter.
“In one way it sucks because the first week, things were still being built and the bus system was trying to work out,” Treadway said.
Though the bus system was less helpful in the first week, Rigsbee was quite happy with the changes that were made.
“[The system was] going to have growing pains, [but it] happens when a new building is up,” he said.
Rigsbee has also added that during the first week, they like to see how many students actually take the bus, and after the trial period, Rigsbee explained that they learned and were able to provide more transportation.
During all hours of the day, there is always one security guard stationed at a booth within the gate on 61st Street. Treadway, although she feels safe in the area, wishes that the security guards could patrol outside of the gates more often.
Rigsbee stated that the security is never limited to sitting in a booth all night.
Additionally, another security guard drives around the Terrace, making extra rounds at night to ensure safety.
Treadway also said she would also prefer to enter the gates using a card swipe over using a code that is easily passable. Rigsbee had no comment as to why a SCAD ID swipe was not installed, but assured that the Terrace provides the same level of security as any of the other SCAD buildings.
According to WSAV news, before SCAD leased the property, the apartments were up for demolition to make new condos.
Due to the overwhelming demand for student housing, SCAD took up the lease for one year and were able to house over 140 students. Rigsbee said that there was a waiting list of over 150 students and knew that residential life had to respond to the demand.
The Terrace maintains an older look on the outside, but underwent many renovations inside once SCAD took it over.
Rigsbee expressed that the Terrace got floor replacements, new appliances, new fixtures, alarm systems and plumbing before the students moved in.
Third year student Cody Mortenson said that while he was moving in, the gates were still being built.
If he could suggest one thing to change about the apartments, he would want to join the two buildings.
“I don’t know my neighbors on the other side,” Mortenson said.
Although the renovations seemed successful, there were a string of complaints for maintenance to fix.
Rigsbee said that all the plumbing was tested, but when someone is living there using the utilities regularly, there are bound to be issues.
“The contractor worked very fast in fixing problems and everything is fine and functioning for the new buildings,” Rigsbee said.
All in all, after the first few weeks Rigsbee said that he’s been getting a lot of positive feedback from students at the Terrace.
“I feel lucky because I have good roommates and a nice setup, but it sucks being away from the college. I’m learning to like it more and more, because we are closer to the mall,” Mortenson said.
Treadway also said that it’s very easy to communicate with the Resident Assistant through their Facebook group to talk about any problems or concerns.
Rigsbee feels proud of the opinions and concerns which help make it a better place to live.
“Students have said that the Terrace is a good experience, [but] there’s always somebody who says it isn’t,” he said.
