SNHU replacing old dorms with five-story building – The Union Leader

The Chocura building, left, and Winnisquam buildings are a couple of the dorms to be torn down to make way for new, larger buildings at Southern New Hampshire University.(THOMAS ROY/UNION LEADER)

MANCHESTER Southern New Hampshire University plans to tear down two 1970s-era dormitories and replace them with a five-story building, according to plans filed recently at Manchester city hall.

Last week, the Manchester Zoning Board of Adjustment granted variances necessary for the project to move forward. SNHU hopes to begin construction in May and have the new dormitory open in August 2018.

This is part of our overall reinvestment and improvements to the Manchester-Hooksett campus, wrote Libby May, a spokesman for the university, in an email.

SNHU is in the middle of a $100 million building spree, most of it on the east side of campus, where an athletic complex, dormitory and office building are under construction.

May said SNHU is now turning its attention to the western side of campus and replacing wooden-style dormitories that were built in the 1970s. The first two slated for demolition are the Winnequam and Chocorua buildings.

The new undergraduate dormitory will be where the Chocorua dormitory now stands. The single dormintory will replace the two and accommodate 384 beds.

We are not reducing the number of beds, May said. We are looking at the overall replacement and updating of our dorms and not necessarily a one-for-one replacement with each dorm building.

May said the new building will feature larger rooms, which will be roughly 210 square feet in size. The rooms will be in a pod-style design, and each floor will feature laundry and a variety of social spaces, she said.

In filings at City Hall, the college said the new building will be close to the center of the 37-acre west side of the campus. The location which will promote pedestrian traffic and maintain vehicular circulation, the filing reads.

Although the dormitory will be five stories high, it will be on a slope so it will not loom higher than existing multi-story dorms, May said.

Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled at the SNHU campus, which straddles the Manchester-Hooksett town line.

mhayward@unionleader.com

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SNHU replacing old dorms with five-story building - The Union Leader