AS NORTHERN’S CAMPUS AGES… changes are inevitable. The most recent is the announcement of new housing going in on Presque Isle Avenue, adjacent to and across the street from the Cohodas Administration Building. The conceptual drawing is seen above.
The two new buildings, featuring a number of layout options, will add an additional 386 beds to on-campus housing. Availability will be focused on upper classmen and grad students, with the buildings featuring amenities such as study and fitness rooms and indoor bike storage.
The reason behind the selection of that site is explained by university spokesperson Derek Hall… “We believe this will be an attractive location for our students, closer to the athletic facilities and Third Street.”
Building Community
I’m all for that. Too often it’s been suggested the university and community have failed to coalesce. Bringing housing closer to a main drag like Third Street will help address that exaggerated observation.
Additionally, the site selected better connects the main campus with the recreational and athletic event buildings east of Presque Isle Avenue.
While enrollment has dropped some over the past few decades, the demand for on-campus housing hasn’t. A shortage of available and affordable places to live in the city has prompted Northern to address that need in their Master Plan, and the new buildings are the result of that blueprint.
Hall explains… “The trend is that more and more upper division students are choosing to stay on campus. The local housing market has changed greatly. This includes local properties being converted to short-term rentals and conversions to single family housing.”
Several of the current dorms, some more than fifty years old, are destined for replacement, while those new dorms you’ve seen crop up on campus replaced outdated dorms that had already been razed.
The new buildings are an inevitable development in the life of a university trying to stay attractive in a very competitive market. And there’s more on the way. According to Hall, “Current campus projects include updating and an addition to Harden Hall (library) and an expansion to the Weston Science Building. A new business building (an addition to Hedgcock) is in planning stages and awaiting final state funding.”
Since I don’t live in the shadow of the new buildings, it’s easier for me to go all in on the project. The neighbors have concerns, and that’s understandable, but Northern’s been pretty responsible at developing their properties. I don’t see why this will be any different.
Talking Trash
I may have already told you this story, but since I can’t remember, you probably can’t either.
Anyway… several decades ago, sometime last century, I was driving back to Marquette from downstate and stopped at the gas station in Seney. I had a bag of trash that I wanted to dispose of, but I couldn’t find the garbage can outside, so I asked the attendant inside where I could toss it. He told me he didn’t have any place for it. He wasn’t taking other people’s trash.
It was at that exact moment when I realized we had crossed the line, and garbage would no longer be an afterthought. And I was right. Though it’s easy, and generally preferable, to ignore garbage… it’s not going away. And neither is the issue of how we deal with it.
A Period of Adjustment
You no doubt have heard of Marquette’s plans to move garbage pickup from night to day. Staffing issues are the main reason for the change. It’s hard enough to find people to work while the sun is out, let alone the graveyard shift.
No exact date has been set for the changeover, but it’s expected to be sometime in the next few months. Complaints, as usual, are ahead of schedule.
A line from Simon & Garfunkel’s hit, At the Zoo, suggests, “Orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages.” And so, it seems, are people.
The main issue is that of on-street parking. The day, or morning, of your garbage collection is when cars won’t be allowed to be parked on the street.
Inconvenient? For some, probably. But just like we have to find a place for our cars, off-street, in the winter, we’ll have to do the same for garbage pickup. The hope is for the collection period to end by 1pm, so it will be just the morning when the streets need to be clear.
There’s no fighting it, so save your criticism… of the plan, and our city leaders for going along with it. The good news? You can look forward to a full night’s sleep, uninterrupted by the dream-destroying, sleep-shattering, cacophony of garbage gathering we’ve come to know and loath.
Dancing With Our Stars
On a personal note, I’ll be busy next Wednesday and Thursday nights as I return to the stage of “Dancing with Our Stars Marquette County Style.” This popular event is the year’s biggest fundraiser supporting the U.P. Hospice Foundation, presented by U.P. Home Health and Hospice.
If you’re looking forward to seeing me tripping the light fantastic, you’ll have to cool your jets, just as I’ll be cooling mine… as a judge. Along with Don Ryan, of TV6’s “The Ryan Report,” I’ll be returning to the bench to reprise my astute dancing adjudication in this event’s 10th edition.
Don and I, along with someone with actual dancing experience, shared the hypothetical gavel for the first five years of this friendly, yet serious, competition. Apparently there were no negative repercussions, since we’ve both been invited back for this year’s “All-Star Party Edition,” featuring couples who have all previously taken the stage.
There are just a few tickets still available. If you’re interested in attending the event, or just supporting the cause, you can find out more at the “Dancing With our Stars” website. Not only is this annual fundraiser a great night of entertainment, but 100% of proceeds go to benefitting hospice care in Marquette County.
When I was asked by a friend exactly what qualified me to be a judge of a dancing competition, I told them… “I like judging people. Duh!”