Staff Writer

When the new University of New England residence hall opens in September, students will study in sunny lounges and zip across campus through a new tunnel under Route 9 in Biddeford.

Sokokis Hall is set to open to 300 students and marks the university’s expansion across Route 9. The $24 million project is part of the university’s master campus plan that includes the eventual construction of three more residence halls, a field house and two playing fields. A blue turf field recently was installed near Sokokis Hall.

Director of Campus Planning Alan Thibeault said he can picture students ice skating on the man-made pond behind the dorm, grilling on an outdoor patio and taking advantage of large televisions in the first floor lounge to play Wii. The dorm also features an exercise room with personal televisions on each piece of equipment.

Thibeault said contractor Allied/Cook Construction finished the project ahead of schedule. Construction started last October and came at an advantageous time because construction costs were lower than expected, he said. The project employed more than 200 people through the winter. The building sits on a 64-acre parcel owned by the university across Route 9 from the main part of campus.

The suite-style dorm sleeps 300 students, who will primarily be upperclassmen. The university requires students to live on campus for the first three years and rooms are chosen through a lottery.

The suites have either four individual bedrooms or two individual bedrooms and one double bedroom. Every suite has a kitchen, living room with large windows and bathroom area with double sinks and separate rooms for toilets and showers. Students will find a small study room and larger window-lined lounge on each floor and a full kitchen they can use on the first floor.

Thibeault said the building was designed to pull students out of their rooms and foster a sense of community. Some high-tech perks include washing machines that can be monitored through the Internet and ergonomic chairs that detach from their bases for more flexible use.

Daryl Cote, associate dean of students, said the building was designed to provide flexibility for the future needs of students, including graduate and medical students who may need more on-campus housing in the future. The university has built five residence halls in the past 10 years and used lessons learned from those buildings in the design of Sokokis Hall, named for a Native American tribe that lived in the area.

Thibeault said the university incorporated sustainable aspects into the design, including furniture made of recycled materials, dual-flush toilets, radiant floor heating and the most energy-efficient lighting available. The building is 38 percent more efficient than standard buildings, he said. The university has applied for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

Student safety was a major consideration as university officials designed the building and access to the main campus across Route 9. During the planning board process last summer, several neighbors opposed the project and said it would inconvenience people traveling through the area.  Other residents supported adding more sidewalks.

Road improvements required by the Maine Department of Transportation included construction of sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides of Route 9 between the intersection of Hills Beach Road and the new access road to the Facilities Building Road intersection. Other traffic calming measure such as refuge islands in the middle of the road and granite curbing were required.

Thibeault said the university built a pedestrian tunnel under the road to increase student safety and limit interruption to traffic flow on Route 9. Students will take “the past of least resistance” by walking or biking through the tunnel, which is at grade level with the residence hall, he said. The tunnel and winding path lined with trees lead to a parking lot near the center of campus.

“We wanted to make sure we gave students a safe route to the other side of campus,” Thibeault said.

The university added extra security guards to monitor the tunnel area and installed surveillance cameras and lighting. Cote said the university encourages students to leave their cars at home and utilize bikes and shuttle buses to get around. The new dorm offers students bike storage in the basement.

Cote said there will be a contest this fall for a mural design for inside the tunnel, which is the width of the two-lane road.

“We want students to take ownership and feel it’s their community,” he said.

Joan Howard, assistant athletic director, said the school’s new artificial turf field in bright blue also will increase school spirit and sense of community.

The field is primarily for field hockey and lacrosse, though it is lined for soccer games if other fields are unusable.

Howard said the field will increase the amount of time students can play on the field because they won’t have to worry about snow and mud. Many incoming student athletes are used to playing on turf and will not have to adjust, she said.

Howard said university officials chose to install a blue field because students and fans identify the school with that color. Only two other schools – Boise State and University of North Haven – play on a blue field.

“That’s who we are, we’ve always been the ‘Big Blue,’” Howard said.

The new field will be used by student athletes starting this week. The first field hockey game will be Sept. 1, just after new bleachers and a press box are installed.

Howard said the field is the first step in a long-term plan to add two other fields, the field house and more parking. The university has a conceptual plan for the field house but has not started the planning board approval process.

Thibeault said the university does not have a timeline for future building near Sokokis Hall. All plans must be presented to the planning board for approval.

“It’s so exciting to have this happening now,” he said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.