Concordia to Begin Building New Dorms

Concordia University will break ground next week for construction of a badly needed dormitory, launching a $5-million campus building program.

The demand for campus housing is so great that the university subsidizes part of the rent for about 60 students who live in the nearby Parkwood apartment building while they wait for less-expensive dormitory space.

“They live about a mile away from the campus,” said university spokeswoman Sandi Willitt. “It’s not that far, but they have quite a hike up the hill.”

About 540 of the university’s 1,200 students currently live in three dormitory buildings at the panoramic 65-acre campus, which sits atop the foothills of the Turtle Rock community.

The $2-million freshman dormitory building will house 112 students and is planned to open in two phases. Completion of a 72-bed section is expected in August, and the remaining 40-bed section will open in December, Willitt said.

The Feb. 27 ground-breaking ceremony will inaugurate ambitious building plans at the 20-year-old Lutheran university.

Concordia, formerly Christ College Irvine, was the beneficiary of a $5-million pledge last November from a family that asked to remain anonymous.

It was the largest donation ever given to any of the 10 universities affiliated with the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church.