heritage halls

Snow sculptures have been popping up across BYU campus as students created structures and works of art out of the recently fallen snow. Many of the creations were found scattered throughout New Heritage Halls, the most recent addition to on-campus housing for freshmen. Some of the sculptures stayed in place for up to a week because of cold temperatures and cloudy weather.

The new Heritage Halls buildings on campus provide an apartment style of living. The buildings are much nicer than the old buildings and have more rooms available. The abundance of rooms, though, leaves limited space for parking. Currently there are about 10 parking spots adjacent to one of the buildings. With hundreds of students living in Heritage, this number is clearly not enough. The option residents are given for parking is just east of the stadium, about a seven-minute walk away and uphill one way. This does not have enough room to accommodate residents. However, if residents are ever in need of their cars at night they are required to make this walk — often alone — in the dark. How often does a freshman living on-campus “need” to use a car? As mentioned before, Heritage Halls is apartment-style, meaning most residents cook for themselves in their own kitchens. The closest grocery store to the residents, besides the BYU Creamery (which is overpriced and does not offer all groceries that a person might need), is Macey’s, about two miles away. The two-mile walk is a steep incline, and during the winter months it is often dark before the residents have a chance to go grocery shopping. Something needs to be done about the parking situation at Heritage Halls to keep the safety of the residents intact and to save them time, money and energy — all things college students have a limited supply of.

As incoming freshman are thrown into adulthood when entering college, they can find comfort in the fact that they are not alone. BYU created Heritage Halls in the effort of helping students to have a smooth transition as they leave high school and enter college.