This fall, on-campus student housing is coming to California State University San Marcos for the first time, as 469 students move into the University Village complex. The resident students will be able to enjoy new campus recreational facilities, also open to all commuter students, with the opening of the M. Gordon Clarke Field House/University Student Union.

The two projects add a new dimension to campus life that is expected to forever change the character of the university.

"We've been a commuter campus up to now, but starting Aug. 30, we'll have students here 24/7. It's going to make a huge difference," said Jonathan Poullard, associate vice president for student affairs.

The housing project resulted from a partnership between the university and a private developer, Allen & O'Hara Education Services LLP of Memphis. This first-in-the-CSU arrangement has Allen & O'Hara building and operating the $28 million project on university property. Tax-exempt bonds have been sold through a special auxiliary corporation of the university to finance the project. Student rental fees will repay the bonds to make the project self-supporting.

University Village is ready to welcome the 469 first resident students to Cal State San Marcos for the fall semester. The $28 million project is a partnership between the university and Allen & O'Hara Educational Services of Memphis.

Allen & O'Hara is being assisted by Hutton Development Co. of Costa Mesa. Elias Construction Co. of Calabasas, Calif., is the contractor. Onyx Architects of Pasadena designed the buildings to support the goals of the residential life program as developed by the campus housing planning team.

University Village represents the very latest in student housing. Each of the 126 units is built as a separate apartment, with its own kitchen, dining area and living room. Approximately one-third of the units have four students sharing two large bedrooms and two bathrooms. The remaining two-thirds of the units have four students in four bedrooms, also sharing two bathrooms. Each room has connections for high-speed Internet, telephone and cable television.

To entice students out of their individual apartments, the project has community meeting rooms and lounge areas, a commons building with a classroom, an amphitheatre and a student lounge with games and big-screen TV.

Across the street, just west of the apartments, residents will find another place to hang out -- the M. Gordon Clarke Field House/University Student Union. The 34,000-square-foot, $8.6 million building is financed through private donations and student fees.

The building includes a 4,000-square-foot weight-training area, a multipurpose recreation gymnasium, outdoor basketball and sand volleyball courts, dressing rooms, a sports medicine facility and meeting rooms for up to 130 people. Students will be able to check out recreational equipment, and there is a convenience store.

The contractor for the project is Edge Development Inc. of Temecula. The architect is Robbins Jorgensen Christopher of Newport Beach and San Diego.

"These two new facilities move Cal State San Marcos into a new era of student life," Poullard said. "There are more reasons for nonresident students to stay on the campus after class, new gathering places, and new ways for students to enjoy the benefits of college life."

Kellogg Library

Construction is also nearing completion on the new Kellogg Library, a 200,000-gross-square-foot, $48 million project that is expected to become the focal point of the campus. Besides increasing the square footage of the library by more than five times, the building will contain audio and video studios and editing facilities, the offices of campus computing services, classrooms, a computer laboratory, a café and convenience store.

The Kellogg Library is nearing completion at Cal State San Marcos. The 200,000-square-foot, $48 million project enlarges the current library space by more than five times.

The five-story building will be the largest on the campus. It is scheduled for occupancy and opening in early 2004. The architect is Carrier Johnson of San Diego. The general contractor is S.J. Amoroso of Costa Mesa.

"Our current library quarters are small and hidden away on portions of the third and fourth floors of Craven Hall, our administration building," said Marion Reid, dean of Library and Information Services. "In the new Kellogg Library we will occupy five and a half times the space we have now. We truly look forward to providing our users with an expanded collection as well as our hallmark service."

Moore is director of communications at Cal State San Marcos.