The Department of Residence is pursuing the remodeling of bathrooms in Friley Hall after numerous delays due to COVID-19, cost, and availability of materials and labor over the past few years. Unforeseen circumstances involving timeline and cost have led us to construction during a different timeframe than we originally planned. The project will begin in January 2023 and be completed by July 28, 2023.

Proceeding with this timeline allows the department to not only continue to be good stewards of student funds, but also allows us to continue efforts to improve facilities by providing bathrooms with improved infrastructure and accessibility as well as additional privacy.

If you have questions about how this project affects you, please reach out to your Hall Director or the Contracts and Assignments office at housing@iastate.edu, 515-294-2900, or in-person at their office at 2419 Friley Hall.

If you don’t see your question represented below, please submit it here and a staff member will be in touch within one business day.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • Who can I contact with questions? 
    • Your Hall Director can put you in touch with someone from the Residence Life team. You can also reach out to our Contracts and Assignments office at housing@iastate.edu, 515-294-2900, or in-person at their office at 2419 Friley Hall.
    • You can also submit a question through this form and a staff member will be in touch within one business day.
  • What is being done to the bathrooms? 
    • The community bathroom will be completely gutted. New toilets and showers will have floor to ceiling walls and doors for full privacy and all showers will contain a separate dressing area. Each bathroom will include fully accessible toilet and shower rooms. Additionally, a full bathroom (sink, toilet, shower) will be accessed from the hallway for use by residents of the house and their guests. 
  • Why is the DoR renovating the bathrooms now? 
    • DoR has been committed to improving community bathrooms. Initial phase of Friley bathrooms were designed and the project put out for bid in January 2022, but no bids were received. After some redesign, we restarted the bidding process and the initial bid was 75% over the $1.95M budgeted amount and contractors indicated they needed 18 weeks to complete project. DoR adjusted the construction timeline for the next set of bids and received a bid that came in on target with our project estimates. The variable from all contractors is that current labor market along with continued supply chain issues has extended the amount of time needed to successfully complete a project of this scope. 
  • Why didn’t the DoR do this renovation before the year began or wait until Summer 2023?
    •  We had received no bids for the planned summer 2022 Friley Bathroom Project. In the current bidding period, the first round of submitted bids included feedback from bidders, that a May 2023 start date would mean substantial completion would occur no earlier than the first of October. Student rooms connected with those bathrooms unavailable for Fall 2023 student move in.
  • When will the bathroom construction be completed? 
    • The project is expected to be complete by July 28, 2023. 
  • Will more people be using the other bathrooms? What bathrooms will be impacted? 
    • Bathrooms that will see an increase in student usage will be:
      • Stanton (Male): R2287
      • Spinney (Female): R3403
      • Meeker (Female): R4503
      • Meeker (Male): R4540
  • What bathrooms have closed? 
    • Dodds House: R1268 
    • Murphy House: R3468 
    • Pennell House: R4568 
    • Lorch-Russell House: R5668 
  • Will the Resident Assistant still live on the floor? 
    • Yes, remaining resident for each house will have an RA.
  • Will construction workers be on our floor? 
    • All four floors will have temporary walls constructed in hallways to separate residents from construction. The majority of the access to the construction area will be by the freight elevator and stairwell within the construction zone. Once temporary walls are in place, there should little to no interactions with construction workers.
  • Will there be a lot of construction noise? 
    • Contractors will not be able to begin noisy work before 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m. Demolition of existing bathrooms will occur during the initial weeks of the project and that will create consistent noise. 
  • Will areas of my floor be blocked off? 
    • Yes, temporary walls will be in place so students cannot access the construction areas. On Floor 1, 3, and 4 students must use floor 2 to navigate to houses at the West End of Friley.   
  • Will my house den be impacted?
    • The Den for each of these houses is located in the construction zone and unfortunately unavailable for use.  We encourage students to utilize other common areas within Friley for their group house activities.
  • Will I be able to move in the spring if I change my mind about staying on the house? 
    • Yes, if you change your mind and want to move to a different space after the start of the Spring term, you will be able to utilize the standard room change process to select a new space. The spring room change process opened in the portal on February 1. 

If you don’t see your question represented above, please submit it here and a staff member will be in touch within one business day.