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Clemson University is investing $212.7 million into Douthit Hills. Located behind Clemson House east along South Carolina Highway 93, Douthit Hills will house 1,600 students.
Douthit Hills is separated into three zones: west zone, central zone and east zone. The west zone will feature five to six level residential halls to house 970 upperclassmen. The central zone will feature a bookstore, a student center, a dining hall, retail and restaurants and amenities. The east zone will include four-level residential halls housing 700 freshmen participating in the Bridge to Clemson University program. The program allows freshmen to take classes at Tri-County Technical College before transferring to Clemson for the sophomore year.
The buildings of Douthit Hill will encompass 650,000 square feet in size over 80 acres. The project is projected for completion in August 2018.
Further Reading:
Barnett, Ron. "Clemson's 'biggest-ever' construction in progress." Clemson, South Carolina: The Greenville News. 2015-01-10. Accessed 2015-01-12. <http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2015/01/10/clemsons-biggest-ever-construction-progress/21568069/>
Hopefully this will allow Clemson to remove some of its oldest dorms like Johnstone.
Based on Clemson's current framework plan; Johnstone, Thornhill (future greek housing) and the shoeboxes will be on the chopping block within the next 10 or so years.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I would like for Clemson to keep Johnstone if the energy costs for it are reasonable.
Living in Johnstone freshman year was a rite of passage for Clemson alumni. I always ask Clemson alumni that I meet if they lived in Johnstone.
It also provides a lower cost on campus housing option.
The Douthit Hills dorms look great. You can see Tillman from the parking lot on the hill behind the dorms.
It looks the bookstore in the student union has closed. It will open up in the Douthit Hub on August 6. It seems like the student union is a better location for the bookstore.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 07-25-2018 at 10:51 AM..
When my daughter toured campuses, the older Clemson dorms like Johnstone were a clear detractor for many of the students in her group. Johnstone doesn't meet any of the current electrical, energy, or accessibility codes. Refurbishing the building to bring it up to current standards would likely be more costly than tearing it down and building a new building. My daughter's friends that lived in Johnstone their Freshman year didn't seem to have anything positive to say about the experience. That may change over time but I don't think it is helping with student recruitment.
UT Knoxville was probably 5-10 years ahead of Clemson with dorm renovations at the time. We were told that by 2018 they wouldn't have any dorms that were more than 20 years old with the exception of two buildings that had been completely renovated within the last 5 years.
I do think that some of the extravagant dorm facilities are a part of the rapid increase in college costs but it is part of the picture for colleges that are trying to recruit top students. That said, the proliferation of luxury apartments around campus shows that there is a demand there for these types of dorms.
The current bookstore location is probably a bit more centralized than Douthit. It could be that the Douthit space has been designed to better meet current needs, though. I wonder what that space in Hendrix will be used for with relocation of the bookstore? I can see it utilized for Clemson branded clothing or perhaps for more restaurant space. The current space for the ice cream shop is less than adequate on busy days but I don't think it would need all of that space unless they consolidated some of the production operations there as well. That could be a neat addition if they made it where you could watch some of the production operation.
Clemson has done a commendable job at keeping the campus relatively compact even with a significant growth in the student population. It is nice that you can walk from one side of campus to the other in 15-20 minutes. UT Knoxville is very spread out, and it can take well over an hour to walk from the Ag campus over to the science and engineering buildings on the other side of campus.
Based on Clemson's current framework plan; Johnstone, Thornhill (future greek housing) and the shoeboxes will be on the chopping block within the next 10 or so years.
In addition to Johnstone Hall, is the Edgar Allan Brown University Union, which includes student mail services and Amry Reserve Officer Training Corps, planned for demolition and redevelopment?
Their current plan is to knock down Johnstone and that student union. A grass terrace will be created in that area and perhaps build a new dorm or other building where the old cafeteria is.
In addition to Johnstone Hall, is the Edgar Allan Brown University Union, which includes student mail services and Amry Reserve Officer Training Corps, planned for demolition and redevelopment?
I like seeing all of the ideas the university has. I believe some of those services might moved to the decommissioned central energy plant space that they are looking to remodel at least in the interim.
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