Addition to Loj nears completion

    Students visiting New Hampshire will soon have extra room to stretch out. After a slight delay, construction of the Trips Cabin, an extra facility alongside the Tufts Mountain Club's (TMC) Loj, is expected to be completed next week.
    The contractor, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes, is now furnishing the cabin with bunk beds. The building will be ready for use once the mattresses arrive and the state fire marshal approves the facility.
    TMC President Katie Bond, a senior, is pleased with the progress.
    "Everyone who's seen it, all the people working on the Tufts side of things who have been up there are ecstatic," she said. "It's looking beautiful, and it's exactly what we wanted."
    Workers began building the cabin in June, with completion slated for August, but an unusually wet summer got in the way.
    "There was an incredible amount of rain in June and July," said Robert Biswanger, a Tufts Facilities employee managing the construction project. "The 31 days of rain put us behind schedule." But earlier this week, he said that the cabin is "95 percent complete."
    Biswanger said that aside from the rain delay, the construction went smoothly and the contractors "did a wonderful job."
    The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate decided in April to allocate $230,000 to the project after a heady, semester-long debate. Although TMC raised $11,854 on its own for the project, most of the funding came from the TCU funds.
    The Trips Cabin is divided into two sections, designated for accommodation and equipment storage respectively. It has a heating system, sprinkler system and smoke detectors and is designed to be energy efficient.
    The cabin will be able to sleep 21 people, nearly equal to the Loj's original accommodations.
    "The capacity has roughly doubled, which is phenomenal as far as hosting more student groups, making more people comfortable there and not intimidating new people who want to go up," Bond said. "We can increase the scale of our events up at the Loj and do a lot more outreach."
    TCU Senator Dan Pasternack, a junior who initially proposed funding the Trips Cabin project with Senate dollars, was impressed by the swift progress. "I'm glad to see such large change happening so quickly and I think it's just a testament to what we can accomplish," he said.
    Bond said the new space will better allow TMC to meet student demand and reach out to more individuals.
    In line with this aim, TMC is launching a campaign this semester to attract students to the Loj. This will include a newcomers' weekend on Sept. 26 and a grand opening party on Oct. 24, according to Bond. TMC is also drafting guides about the Loj and helping students plan trips.
    TMC continues to grapple with the challenge of transporting students to the Loj, particularly on weekends. "It's something that we as the TMC board really struggle with," Bond said. The group is exploring the possibility of getting a van but has no firm plans in place.
    The cabin's ultimate cost has not been finalized, as billing is ongoing. Both Bond and Biswanger, however, are certain that the cost will not exceed its $240,000 budget.
    "Our project manager has been doing a great job of keeping finances in check and finding ways to save money that don't compromise the quality of the building," Bond said. Biswanger said it is possible that the final costs will be well below the budget, in which case the surplus funds will go back to the Senate.
    Pasternack stands by his original decision to support the project. "It's something that I think students may not see the impact [of] immediately, but as time goes on it will have a big impact on the campus if used properly," he said.
    Looking back on what was a contentious debate in the Senate, Bond is hopeful that some who disagreed with the allocation will eventually be won over. "When we applied for the funds we really believed in its benefit for the entire Tufts community," she said. "We hope that over time some of the people who were uncomfortable with the allocation will start to see our perspective."