Out with the old, in with the new at the University Apartments

Diego Saldana-Rojas / Staff Writer

Of students moving into the University Apartments, almost 600 residents will not find the same purple couches they once relaxed on.

The almost 30-year-old apartments recieved $310,000 dollars in new furniture that includes: couches, rolling chairs and dining tables. 50 new refrigerators and 40 new stoves were also replaced in several units.

The new furniture was directly funded by students rent.

“We budgeted for it last year,” said John J. Tallon, Assistant Director for Housing Facilities.

Studio units received high top dining tables instead of the larger dining tables provided for units meant to house two or four students.

The purple couches and heavy wooden chairs that once furnished the rooms were removed from UA, but not thrown away.

According to John J. Tallon, assistant director for housing facilities, three local branches of nonprofits took 400 sofas and 1,200 chairs.

Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity and the Miami Rescue Mission took one-third of all the furniture that was being taken out.

The furniture that was not taken for donation was thrown into large dumpsters and later hauled away.

Furnishings were not the only changes made to the 10 buildings the comprise UA complex over the summer.

Photo courtesy of Carmen Siman. Students driving past the University Apartments during the last weeks of summer noticed an abundance of chairs and other pieces of furniture in the dumpsters. The furniture that was not taken for donation was thrown into large dumpsters and later hauled away.

Several apartments also received new showers, plumbing and electrical repairs, new lighting fixtures and new coats of interior as well as exterior paint.

All of UA’s studio units were fitted with new Fujitsu mini-split air-conditioning units.

According to Tallon, the new air conditioning units are not only quieter and more energy efficient, but a single unit can provide cool air for four studio rooms.

Reducing waste and cutting down on costs were factors that contributed to the design styles and colors chosen for UA’s new furnishings, he said.

The couches, chairs and tables can all be interchanged and repurposed between University Towers and Parkview.

UA’s summer changes extend beyond living quarters and out into the surrounding buildings’ infrastructure.

About $20,000 dollars were spent on new benches with composite plastic surfaces and trash cans for the apartments’ gazebo area.

The housing department stuck to the ideals of reusing by relocating the old wooden benches and trash cans to the nature preserve.

UA’s courtyards all received new Robellini palm trees. Tables that sit in the courtyard were repainted and had all their grass removed and replaced with smoother river rock.

According to Tallon, the addition of river rock solves two problems that UA’s courtyards faced.

Photo courtesy of Carmen Siman. Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity and the Miami Rescue Mission took one-third of all the furniture that was being taken out. Whatever was not taken in donations, was thrown away.

The constant sitting down on the benches killed the grass underneath and led to the loosening of dirt which would get kicked up onto the pavement. The white rocks underneath the staircases would also get kicked up near the entryways, scratching off paint.

Building A received new LED light poles by it’s entrance and combination lock style mail boxes. The main building’s study and lounge areas received new furnishings similar in style to those found in the resident’s rooms.

Tallon said that there are more proposed developments on the table such as a re-imagining the uses for the front and rear spaces of Building A.

As of now, Tallon says there is only one project scheduled for next summer—roof repairs.

-news@fiusm.com