MORRISVILLE'S FIRST DORM UPGRADE COMPLETE; THE STATE COLLEGE IS FOLLOWING A TREND OF APARTMENT-STYLE RESIDENCE HALLS.(Local)

Byline: Pedro Ramirez III Staff writer

Some Morrisville State College students this fall will enjoy homier digs with the completion of the school's first apartment-style residence hall.

The $12 million, four-story dorm, dubbed Morrisville Commons, is the first step toward a campuswide upgrade of housing facilities that is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars. Officials formally opened the dorm Friday.

"This is so much nicer," said Liz Berry, of Canastota, who will be among the 200-plus students moving into the residence hall next month. "It's brand-new. It's not like the other dorms. There's a lot more room."

Each Morrisville Commons suite is furnished and features a common kitchen and living area, two bathrooms with at least one shower, cable, Internet access, air conditioning and four bedrooms. Some of the bedrooms are doubles.

Morrisville is not the only college in the area to embrace apartment-style residence halls. Colgate University opened 14 town houses in 2005 - each with eight double-occupancy rooms. Cazenovia College is adding an apartment-style residence hall with 95 beds to the existing Shove Hall dorm.

Joe Mastrippolito, a representative with The Quandel Group, said apartment-style dorms are in demand. The Quandel Group built Morrisville Commons and is working on similar projects in Pennsylvania.

Students are scheduled to begin moving into Morrisville Commons around Aug. 8, said Jessica DeCerce, a Morrisville spokeswoman. It will cost $3,250 to $3,500 a semester to live there, according to campus literature.

Morrisville officials plan to renovate the older residence halls one at a time. Next on the list will be renovations for Cayuga Hall, a 109-room dorm that was built in 1962. The renovations will take up to two years to complete, school officials said.

Pedro Ramirez III can be reached at pramirez@syracuse.com or 470-3253.

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Pedro Ramirez III/Contributing photographer

MORRISVILLE COMMONS officially opened Friday. Each suite is furnished and features a common kitchen and living area, two bathrooms with at least one shower, cable, Internet access, air conditioning and four bedrooms. Some bedrooms are doubles.