2008 Woodie Awards
Residents move into the Grove
Mallory Edens, Page 2 Editor
Issue date: 8/29/07 Section: News
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"It's like we don't even have a place to live," said Kiera Edwards, junior biology major from McKinney. "We gave them 10 extra
days. They should have been ready."
Edwards said her apartment was missing all furniture,
mattresses and mirrors when she and her two roommates
got there Saturday. Their dishwasher was leaking, their toilets did not work and her sink was not fully mounted.
There were two holes left in the door, the floors in the apartment were covered in dirt and the freshly painted walls were covered in grease-stained smudges. These are only some of the issues Edwards has encountered.
"[These are] unfinished apartments that aren't ready to be moved into, but we have to," she said. "And everyone has a bad mood because it's bad conditions. We don't have cable or Internet, and we have to go to school. The sidewalks aren't swept. We are walking on dirt. It's like we are in the desert. It's like, 'That building that's under construction? Yeah, I live there…'"
Some tenants had Edwards' problems; others had different things to deal with. Residents in Building 4 had broken air conditioners, and some from other buildings found their plumbing inoperable, even flooding in a few rooms. Edwards said Grove workers had promised them multiple times they would get their mattresses and furniture Saturday, but when 9 p.m. rolled around they were still sitting on the floor with nowhere to sleep. They resorted to getting a hotel for the night, and it wasn't until Sunday after she and her roommates returned from church that they found mattresses- and mattresses only-had been put in their apartment.
"I've never been so happy to have a mattress," Edwards said. "They [kept] telling us we [would] get [our furniture]. We were promised we would have them [Saturday], but we didn't. We [kept] getting promised, and they're not following through."
Shelley Paxton, junior psychology, pre-physical therapy major from Dimmitt, echoed Edward's feelings. She said she got many mixed messages from the Grove staff and no concrete answers.
"[Saturday] was chaotic and horrible," Paxton said. "No one has given anyone a direct answer or taken charge. I don't know who is in charge here or what is going to happen. I was just really
shocked and confused [Saturday]. I think everyone felt that way. Everyone is stressed out."
Paxton tried to find out when they could get mattresses, and she said the answers she got all conflicted with each other.
"We talked to some of the workers. They said [the mattresses] were in a warehouse, and they couldn't get to it," she said. "Mike [Spell] said they were bringing mattresses in from Houston and didn't think we would have them until later this week. Then a worker said, 'Mike doesn't know what's going on. We'll have all your furniture today by 5 p.m.'"
Confused as ever, Paxton and her roommates were left with neither furniture nor answers. She said the person she most expected to have answers, Mike Spell, director of the Grove, seemed just as lost as everyone
else.
"Mike just kept walking in and out of the office," Paxton
said. "He really did seem like he didn't know what to do. He just looked like he was in disbelief. I was like, 'I thought you were supposed to be in charge and know what was going on.'"
Mike Spell was not available for comment.
Other administrators gave vague answers to inquiries Paxton asked.
"I asked the lady who was [setting up] the hotels when the gym was going to be done, and she just smiled really big and didn't give me any answers," Paxton said. "She just said 'Y'all are just going to love it when it's done.' And I thought, 'It was supposed to have already been done by now…'"
Gym or not, Paxton said she is making do with what she has.
These issues and encounters
have decreased many of the residents' patience and optimism, and Paxton said some are resorting to more than just complaints.
"Some girls are trying to get lawyers because [the Grove] is in breach of contract," she said. "[My hopes] aren't really high right now. I hope they can get up and running. I hoped they would give us a huge discount."
While some tenants had bad experiences on Saturday, others like Randy Woods, a junior electronic media major from Falls Church, Va., did not have as many issues moving in. Woods said that while he had no furniture expect a bed and a dresser, only a few issues existed in his apartment when he got there.
"There were minor things wrong like under the kitchen sink it was not closed off, and it wasn't finished, and there were white things dried in the floor," Woods said. "It was fairly clean. There were some trouble spots from tools and open plastic and boxes laying around."
Woods said from where he was staying, in Building 2, it looked like a lot of people stayed in the Grove Saturday night like he did. He said most people around him had beds. This differs from the side of the Grove where Edwards and Paxton live in Building 11.
Woods said, though, that having no furniture has upset
him.
"What really bothers me is my computer and clothes are in bags, and I can't do much with them with just a closet and a bed," he said. "I can put some in the dresser, but I can only do so much now."
Woods has had more construction occur in his apartment since Saturday. He said he wasn't sure what it was being done for, and he wasn't really told.
"They put two huge holes in my wall in my bathroom," Woods said. "I think the air conditioner is outside my room. Mike told me they were working on the air conditioner. I'm assuming it's for my building and people couldn't get air conditioning yet."
Edwards said while many things were wrong, not everything
was negative.
"I almost want to say it's not worth it, but it is," she said. "It could be a lot worse. Everything's not negative. There are a lot of hot guys. It's nice inside. The locks work; I feel safe at least."
However, some do not feel that way and are threatening to pull out of their lease to go elsewhere. Patricia Hail-Jackson, director of University Park Apartments, said she has had inquiries from concerned parents of Grove residents since the move-in delay and this weekend's transpirations. She said UP does not have much room for people wanting to transfer
apartments, though.
"We are sitting at 93-to 94-percent [full] right now," Hail-Jackson said. "I don't think they have hurt us as much as we first thought."
Hail-Jackson also said University Park has worked to compete with the Grove.
"Anywhere you go, you will have competition," she said. "We came back and tried to get as competitive as possible. The hardest thing was the Grove having washers and dryers, so now our residents will have free laundry. [The Grove's] square footage is a little bigger, and we don't have a pool. They are advertising they will have tanning beds and a weight room. Those are things we are not really in competition with them."
She said there are things with which the Grove just can't compete, though.
"We are in partnership with ACU; they pay a portion of students'
rent when they live over here," Hail-Jackson said. "ACU has stood behind us. So, when they get [new] athletes and international students, ACU sends them over here."
Hail-Jackson said there are also other perks to ACU students
that exist with living at UP over the Grove, such as rent and distance.
"The Grove only allows 12 month rent. UP allows nine and 12 months rent," she said. "And they can't compete with the proximity we have to [the ACU] campus. In reality, the Grove isn't in walking distance, but we are."
While some students are looking into UP as an alternative
to the Grove, others have decided to stay at the Grove and wait for their issues to be resolved. Edwards, Paxton and Woods are still waiting for their furniture to show up at their door.
E-mail Edens at: mxe06a@acu.edu
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