Burdett Avenue Residence Hall

Accommodations

The Burdett Avenue Residence Hall (BARH) is located at 2122 Burdett Ave in Troy, NY. It has four wings, A, B, C, and D, with four floors. The rooms are suite style, with shared in room bathrooms in single, double and triple options. Additionally, there is a dining hall open to all meal plan students located on the first floor of the building (1).

History

Construction on BARH began on November 18, 1964 with a groundbreaking ceremony by then President Folsom. It was built by the New York State Dormitory Authority for leasing to RPI with completion originally slated for February 1966. The project cost $1,802,000 (~$17,141,929.29 today) with $1,548,000 (~$14,725,697.31 today) for the building itself and $254,000 (~$2,416,231.99 today) for construction fees, landscaping and furnishings. The building itself was made of concrete and brick veneer intended to house 218 students with kitchen facilities and lounge areas within each of its four wings. With the number of female students rising each year, 76 total women enrolled at the time of the announcement and 23 in the freshmen class alone, one wing was to be dedicated to female students (2). The previous construction timeline as long as other construction projects on campus, by several months due to strikes by the construction workers (3). BARH officially opened for residents for the Fall 1966 semester (4).