Keeping It Central

tart saying goodbye to retro Central. Admin-istrators say they'll begin "moving ground" this summer on renovating the outdated Central Campus.

But in the three decades since graduate students first occupied Central in the 1970s, newer and trendier apartment complexes have sprung up around Duke's campus. And while the class of 2009 looks to be the first with the chance to occupy the buildings of the new bridge between East and West campuses, off-campus apartment operators said they would adjust to keep their student renters.

"Honestly, most of the Triangle is saturated for apartments already," says Margaret Carroll, property manager for The Belmont Apartment Complex. "Do I think they should build more? No, but most of the things going up now have been in the pipes long before Central was even announced."

So will the fancy new digs keep students from renting out space at popular spots like The Belmont or Erwin Square?

Executive Vice President Tallman Trask thinks so. But there are no plans to require undergrads to stay under Duke's omnipresent residential eye, he says A four-year living contract for students is not likely at this point, especially because the University is only looking to increase the current bed space on campus by a few hundred.

"It's not our plan to construct enough space to accommodate all of Duke's undergrad and graduate students," Dean of Residence Life and Executive Director of Housing Services Eddie Hull says. "There will always be the opportunity to live off campus."

But depending on how students like the new apartments, the current plans for Central could possibly change, and then a four-year housing contract wouldn't be out of the question, Trask says. And as for graduate students, the University is planning to accommodate some of them on Central too.

With new housing options on campus to come, apartment complexes off campus will need to expand their niche. Managers at The Belmont, where Duke undergrads currently make up 50 percent of residents, and Erwin Terrace have indicated they'll probably start targeting the graduate student population. But some of the complexes haven't given too much thought to the effects of a new Central.

"Presumably they'll be tearing things down, and hopefully we can meet some of those needs," Erwin Terrace General Partner Robinson Everett says.

But Duke administrators promise that there probably won't be a shortage of housing for undergrads. Even though they're still working out logistics, the first phase of apartments are supposed to be built on open land, Hull says.

When all is said and done, administrators hope Central Campus will be the place to be-a bridge to connect East and West campuses and the on-campus home for performance venues, the bookstore and-cross your fingers-even a bar. Now that's something the off-campus complexes should be worried about.