Dorm Construction Published March 7, 2008 By Airman First Class Katherine B. Holt 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs MACDILL AFB, Fla. -- Construction for MacDill's new and first ever quad-dorm, dorm 253, is on time and scheduled to be completed on Labor Day. The $11 million project, that began 35 weeks ago, is equipped with 20 modules containing four individual rooms. The 1,500square foot modules will include a dining room, a kitchen and a living room that the four occupants will share. "All the modules are identical," said Peter B. Thorp, project manager with David Boland, Inc. "Airmen will walk into the dining room, through the kitchen, then into the living room." The individual rooms will have their own bathroom, closet and air-conditioning unit. Bedroom furniture consists of a bed, desk, entertainment center and drawers. The closet will have a shoe rack and a shelf above the hanger rack. The kitchen will include a four-eye stove, oven, washer/dryer unit but no dishwasher. The living room will have a love seat, two chairs and end tables. The dining room will come with a table and four chairs. The dorm will be three floors with three sets of stairs and roof access. The south side of the dormitory will have balcony walkways on each floor. A common area will be on the first floor and it will have a pool table, big screen TV, vending machines, washer/dryer units and mailboxes, said Thorp. The quad-dorm design is a standard layout of the Air Force set by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment. "There was not much room to play around with the design of these dorms," said Chris Lecompte, the unaccompanied housing coordinator. "This dorm is practically a rubber stamp of the AFCEE model." Chris Lecompte added, changes were made concerning air conditioning, air pressure, and dehumidifiers to prevent mold during the hot summer months. MacDill's most up to date dorms were built in 1969. The remaining dorms were built between 1960 and 1967. The 1969 dorms were recently demolished and are the construction site for the new dorm. In the near future, building 379 will come down and 377 will re-open. With all the demolition and reconstruction, MacDill's room count is falling well below the new projected Air Force standard of 427. Air Force installations with the lowest amounts of rooms become priority for construction of new dorms. Therefore, there is already planning in progress for a 120 room dorm, but depending on contracts and budgets the room count could decrease. The new quad-dorm will hold 80 Airmen. The decision on who will move in to the new dorm will be made on Mar. 19.