[A] trio of University of Vermont dorms known affectionately, or not-so-affectionately, as “The Shoeboxes,” are coming down.
The three dorms — Buckham, Chittenden and Wills — will all be torn down to make room for a new residence hall, as well as the expansion of the UVM Medical Center.
The university on Monday posted a video tribute to the Shoeboxes, referring to them as “legendary.”
UVM will be selling off bricks from the soon-to-be-demolished dorms. A $50 donation will secure donors a brick, including mailing costs, $25 of which will go toward the UVM Scholarship Fund. More generous donations will mean more for the scholarship fund.
Rick Green, communications director for the University of Vermont Foundation, said the university has made an arrangement with the company for taking the shoeboxes down. The buildings will be razed shortly after commencement in May, and 500 bricks will be saved for the campaign.
The university promises that the bricks will come from the trio of old Shoebox dorms — though it will not be clear which dorm specifically each brick comes from.
Green said on Monday that each brick will have a little plaque affixed to them saying something to the effect of, “In honor of the Shoeboxes,” and will be packaged up and mailed out to the donors. He said he was not sure of the cost of mailing the bricks.
“How often do you send a brick?” Green said.
As part of the Shoebox brick fundraiser, memories are being solicited, too, by the UVM Alumni Association. Since the sale began, donations have been coming in along with stories of 18th birthdays, snowball wars and other memories in the three dorms.
“Believe it or not, all of my closest friends from UVM were either in Chittenden or Buckham,” one alum recalled.
Construction of the new, freshman-only, student residence is expected to be completed in 2017.
For next academic year, UVM has rented a limited number of apartments at the Sheraton Hotel as well as at Quarry Hill Apartments, to replace 391 rooms in the Shoeboxes, Green said.
The new residence hall will be located behind the Bailey-Howe Library and will have between 450 and 650 beds, said Green. The dining hall will be large enough to accommodate 900 people.
The new dorm, to be built by a private developer with a long-term land lease from UVM, will be a modern complex, and will have more modern-day amenities for students, Green said.
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