Construction adjoining B.J. Haan Auditorium is shown Feb. 11 on the campus of Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. A new dining hall and recital hall are scheduled to be finished later this year.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- A new student dining area and recital hall continue to take shape at Dordt University.
A student housing project and upgrades to the Rozenboom Athletic Center also are slated to begin later this year on the Sioux Center campus.
Construction began last spring on a new dining hall that will connect the Campus Center to the B.J. Haan Auditorium. The dining hall will seat approximately 400 people and will allow for longer hours of operation to serve students. It also will be more centrally located on campus.
Workers were expected to soon pour the concrete pad for the new recital hall, then begin erecting the walls. Plans call for a new 250-seat recital hall that will include space for musicians to learn, practice and perform for smaller audiences.
Work on both projects will pick up in the spring, Fred Verwoerd, vice president for university operations, said in a news release.
"There will be a big push in May and through the summer, once students are no longer on campus," Verwoerd said.
The dining hall is expected to be finished by late summer, and the recital hall by mid fall.
Also scheduled for construction this spring and summer are a set of cottages that will be available to upperclassmen. The six cottages, each housing six students, will resemble small houses without garages and will be located at Seventh Street Northeast and Fourth Avenue Northeast.
The cottages are designed to create a community among the students living in them.
"The intent behind the design is to create a neighborhood feel where students can know one another and live and share and care for each other," associate dean of students Derek Buteyn said in a news release.
Site preparation is scheduled to begin in the spring, and the cottages completed in August, Verwoerd said.
"We are in the final steps of the design of the cottages, which will largely be built off-site and then brought to campus to be put together, more of a modular style of construction," he said.
University officials also continue planning expansion of the athletic training room, offices and locker rooms in the Rozeboom Athletic Center.
"When our athletic facilities were first built, Dordt had about 300 student-athletes, now we serve about 700 student-athletes," Verwoerd said.
Work on the Rozeboom improvements will begin either in late spring or early summer.
Andrew Perry, an undergraduate student from Kansas, had sued the school in June 2022, saying the school discriminated against his religious be…
Construction adjoining B.J. Haan Auditorium is shown Feb. 11 on the campus of Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. A new dining hall and recital hall are scheduled to be finished later this year.
