McFeetors Hall, the new building standing prominently on the corner of Portage Avenue and Langside Street, is not your average university dorm. For starters, the sun-drenched student lounges and brightly coloured hallways are a far cry from typically dingy, outdated, college dormitories.

The state-of-the-art geothermal residence features both single and double room dorms, as well as 25 town-house style apartments for families.

Sherri Pchajek, manager of campus living and housing, said that McFeetors Hall further diversifies housing options for students.

“We are not just a dorm residence,” she said. “We have so many different choices for students.”

In addition to McFeetors Hall, the university provides apartment-style accommodations for about 170 students in Lions Manor senior citizens’ complex on Sherbrook Street. An additional four large houses on Balmoral Steet are home to 32 students.

Pchajek said that before McFeetors Hall, there was a struggle to accommodate the volume of students in need of housing on campus. Each year approximately 30 students were on the waiting list for housing.

Although the new building is part of the university’s downtown campus, accommodations at McFeetors are not limited to U of W students.

Pchajek said plans for McFeetors arose from an increased demand in accommodations for international students as well as the university’s desire for a housing project that would accommodate community members exploring education in some capacity.

“We decided to combine the two and create the new residence that offered both,” she said.

Providing housing for residents of the downtown is not the only way McFeetors Hall extends to the community. Kyle McLean, a residence assistant at McFeetors and a third-year education student at the U of W, said that students living in residence are encouraged to become involved in the community.

He said student residents are becoming involved in food banks, the Spence Neighbourhood Association and the Downtown Biz.

“I see it as a good way to integrate the university into the community,” he said.

Stefano Grande, executive director of the Downtown Biz, believes the new residence will change the face of the downtown for the better.

“The bottom line is, the more people there are downtown, the more vibrant the community,” he said, adding that the increase of students in the downtown will likely spark further economic development.

And while the building is impacting the community at large, a smaller community has already taken shape inside the walls of McFeetors. 

“Here, there is an instant community,” McLean said.

The residents of McFeetors are invited to take part in a variety of events, such as parties, barbecues, foosball tournaments and movie nights.

As well, many of the residence assistants are multilingual, benefiting not just the international students but other residents interested in languages.

Published in Volume 64, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 17, 2009)