<p>**My son told me that Ridgecrest South will be torn down due to foundation issues. </p>
<p>Who will be held responsible for the new costs associated to this problem? (Contractor, Engineers, UA …(State taxpayers)? </p>
<p>**During my son’s mandatory Dorm Meeting (Riverside East), the residents were told that the Riverside Complex is also being torn down and rebuilt. I recall he mentioning that Riverside was built as “Interim Housing”. He said something about high maintenance costs and low quality building materials.</p>
<p>Isn’t Rose Tower scheduled for demolition after this academic year?</p>
<p>With the high demand for student housing, does anyone know specific plans for new dorms? Are the first two situations fact or rumors?</p>
<p>I would contact Housing and ask.</p>
<p>Rumors from students can be unreliable.</p>
<p>wow that would be bad.</p>
<p>I would find out from reliable sources before believing this. Rumors can be crazy at times.</p>
<p>I’m not at Bama anymore, but I find the Ridgecrest South thing a little too unbelievable. I’d wait to hear from the university to believe anything like that.</p>
<p>The Riverside thing is slightly more believable. They built those back in 2004 basically to show the state what they wanted to do so they could build the rest of the honors housing.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard about them tearing down Somerville and Palmer Hall(Mallet) but nothing about Rose Towers. Seems kind of strange they want to do it all at once.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Riverside would eventually be torn down between 2014 and 2019, but I cannot see Ridgecrest South being torn down in the near future as it was built to be a permanent structure. Since Ridegecrest South has 5+ stories, it has a steel superstructure, whereas Riverside has a wooden one. IIRC, only Riverside was designed to last 10 to 15 years, all the others have a steel superstructure and can last indefinitely.</p>
<p>Officially, the honors dorms are owned by the 1831 Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation fully controlled by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama. Bonds to construct Ridgecrest South were issued by Ridgecrest Student Housing, LLC and are to be paid back from rental fees.</p>
<p>Since the new dorms were built relatively quickly using a competitive bidding process, the materials used were probably of a lower quality than you would use when building your dream home. </p>
<p>What I would be interested to see would be the demolition schedule for those dorms scheduled to be demolished in the coming years. So far I’ve heard about Somerville, Palmer, Paty, Rose Towers, Riverside, and some of the smaller dorms on the other side of campus being considered for demolition.</p>
<p>Echoing what everyone else is saying, I’ve heard the Riverside was not meant to last more then 20 years. I don’t think Ridgecrest was built to sturdier standards.</p>
<p>I believe that Lakeside West and East are among the dorms to be replaced – around the same time as the Riverside complex. Sea_tide, you are right about the building materials used. The original builders paint is on the walls at Ridgecrest West (or at least it looks like the original). One of my son’s suite mates suggested that maybe housing could allow them to repaint the suite. I added only if they offer a credit on one’s housing fees.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s input. I am not a rumor starter. I simply was seeking clarification from all of you.</p>
<p>Shoot…I meant to say I do think Ridgecrest was built to last.</p>