President James Gaertner approved the construction of a $15 million apartment-style housing facility at the intersection of Bowers Boulevard and Montgomery Road. “Our planning research indicates that this is a major need, and we are looking at several solutions in partnership with the private sector which will provide apartment-type housing on university property in the Bowers Stadium area,” said Gaertner in an article on the “Today @ Sam” Web site. According to the Web site, the Board of Regents approved the employment of C. F. Jordan, Limited Partners, of College Station, to design and build the structures. There will be two separate apartments, Bearkat Village I and Bearkat Village II. These will be the first residence halls constructed in this area since 1962, and they will replace several residence halls that have been demolished in recent years. Robert McCroskey, head engineer of the SHSU Physical Plant said the only things that will have to be demolished before construction are trees because the building site is currently a wooded area.Frank Krystyniak, director of Public Relations for SHSU, said that the university will purchase bonds to fund the building project, and that the bonds would be paid back when students pay their fees for living there. Krystyniak said there would be no increase in regular student fees for students that will not live in the new apartments. However, the fees per student living in the new apartments will be higher than the fees for other residence halls on campus because it is a new facility. “We’re hoping to start ground-breaking in November,” said McCroskey. He said the construction team is in the design phase at the moment, and that the plan is to have the structures completed by Aug. 1. “It will be a difficult task, but it’s been done before,” he said. McCroskey said the apartments are projected to be ready for move in at the beginning of the fall 2003 semester. Kimberly Baechtel, assistant director for Residence Life Operations, said that each apartment would have two separate bedrooms, a full kitchen, one bathroom and two sinks. There will also be a cable hook-up for television. The apartment complex will be co-ed, with same-sex roommates. The rent for the apartments has not been released as of yet, said Baechtel.Baechtel said that Colony Apartments will still be in operation, even with the addition of Bearkat Village I and Bearkat Village II to the campus. “The talk is that the new housing will be for upperclassmen,” said Baechtel. She said the new housing would improve campus life because students enjoy living on campus, but they want more of an apartment-style living space instead of the atmosphere of a traditional dormitory.”When they’re open, I might move in. I want my own room,” said senior Paul Harrison.Graduate student Marlena Merrell said she would prefer to have two bathrooms, or at least another half bathroom instead of just one bathroom per apartment. “They [the apartments] would probably be more expensive than what you can find in town,” said freshman Randy Meeker. He said when he is looking for a place to live he expects “affordable rent and expenses and decent space.”