With $16 million in bonds Adelphi University is borrowing from Hempstead's Industrial Development Agency (IDA), plans to construct a three-story dormitory on the northwest portion of its Garden City campus and convert office space in the existing Earle Hall back into 25 beds for students are under way.

Officials are currently waiting for the village to grant the required permits to begin groundbreaking, slated for mid-May. Although the original plan was to break ground in early April, officials say the approximate two-month delay won't hold up the dorm's opening in time for the 2003 fall semester.

IDA officials, including executive director Fred Parola, met with University President Dr. Robert Scott and Tim Burton, the university's associate treasurer, last Tuesday to hear any public comments regarding the bonds. The IDA is required by law to hold such a meeting.

Adelphi will pay all of the interest and principal on the bonds. Parola read the original application during the hearing, which stated the university wanted to borrow up to $20 million for the project. According to Burton, however, Adelphi is now looking to use $4 million less than that.

Dr. Scott reiterated that the university needs to erect another residence hall in order to fulfill Adelphi's mission of achieving academic integrity with fiscal stability. The plan here is to get out of debt, he said, and this requires opening another dorm by July 2003. "If we miss that date and lose students as we did last fall, it will be very devastating for this university," Dr. Scott said during an earlier public hearing at Garden City Village Hall.

This is the first new construction on campus in over 17 years. The last new building on the campus opened in 1985. According to reports, 2,716 full-time undergraduates attended Adelphi as of last fall. Of those 2,716 students, 864 lived on campus. The existing residence halls are all four-story buildings. The Earle Hall renovations are minor in nature, Burton said, and will also be paid for through IDA bonds.

Prior to 1989, the university had a much broader expansion plan that involved erecting six new buildings. This proposal generated controversy, as did the current proposal in which most Brompton Road residents voiced their disapproval before the village board of trustees months back. Although Adelphi did receive a building permit for the original application, the project never reached fruition. The permit eventually expired back in 1995.

Despite lack of residential support, after more than a month of deliberation, the board of trustees voted 5 to 3 earlier this year in favor of granting Adelphi the special use permit to go forward with the project. The application also went before the village's Planning Commission and Architectural Design Review Board before it eventually returned to the board for final site plan approval.