Sorin College will undergo extensive renovations during the 2020-2021 school year, Jonathan Retartha, the University’s director of residential life for housing operations, announced in an email to Sorin residents Tuesday. The building’s renovation will follow the completion of Dillon Hall’s renovation during the 2019-2020 school year.

Renovation work will begin in the summer of 2020, the email said. The Sorin community will be relocated to Pangborn Hall for the school year due to the renovation’s extensive nature.

Tom Naatz | The Observer

In the email, Retartha said the aim is to maintain Sorin’s historical character while updating its amenities.

”We are excited for this opportunity to modernize the mechanical systems and improve the community building spaces in Sorin while preserving the historical and cultural components that make Sorin so well-loved by residents and alumni,” he said.

The construction will be completed in the summer of 2021, at which point the dorm community will return to a “significantly improved Sorin,” Retartha said.

The design components of the project will draw on previously completed plans, Retartha said.

“Many of the design elements will draw from the University’s residential master plan, developed in 2014 after years of outside research, benchmarking and student feedback,” Retartha said in the email. “A survey of Sorin’s physical facilities will soon be underway with leaders in Student Affairs, Residential Life (including Rector Fr. Bob [Loughery]) and Facilities, Design and Operations.”

Sorin residents will be consulted through a focus group in the spring of 2020, the email said. Retartha encouraged dorm residents to visit the recently completed renovations in Walsh Hall, Badin Hall and Morrissey Manor “to get a sense of the direction we’re heading.”

The Sorin community will visit Pangborn next year through an “organized open house” to get a look at the building before their temporary relocation.

Tags: dorm renovations, residential life, Sorin College