Nicholson Gateway apartments are a true revival of the west end of the University’s campus. The $235 million on-campus housing complex provides amazing proximity to campus, views of Tiger Stadium and convenience no other housing at the University can provide.
Unfortunately, after about a month of living here, the jury is out. If you combine constant disappointment with a worthless $800 meal plan, you’ll have my experience with Nicholson Gateway so far. Don’t get me wrong, the apartments are nice. The units have modern kitchens, spacious rooms and private bathrooms. But, for every plus there is a problem — exposed wires, construction workers moving all about, the slowest barely-working elevators on Earth, weird smells and too frequent spider sightings. These are not exactly the amenities I pay thousands of dollars per semester for.
Furthermore, according to LSU Dining’s Twitter account, none of the restaurants or grocery stores at Nicholson take Paw Points; therefore, no one with a meal plan can use it at any of these on campus locations. For me, that means I wasted $800 on a meal plan that cannot be used at any of places close to me, places I paid a premium to be close to.
I find it very hard to believe that any store or restaurant would reject an opportunity to make more money. Most, if not all, on-campus restaurants take meal plan Paw Points. The University had ample time to make meal plans available in the new complex. This was clearly not a priority, yet they encourage the purchase of meal plans.
“I don’t think students yet can conceptualize how it’s really going to be like a traditional neighborhood development,” said Associate Director of Communications and Development Catherine David in August. “You’ll have everything you need right here.”The unanswered question is: when? Matherne’s Market is the only meal source open in the complex and the closest place for food other than The 5 Dining Hall near West Campus Apartments, or the Union — neither being close to Nicholson Gateway at all.
Another issue I know affects a lot of people and their guests is the overbearing key access points. Every time you have guests, you must retrieve them from the lobby and swipe your Tiger Card at every door, elevator and staircase in the building. This is common among on-campus housing options, but it is very inconvenient in reality.
Frankly speaking, Nicholson Gateway is currently a mess. Hopefully, a month from now, I will be able to report that all of the amenities at the complex are up and running, but let’s not hold our breath. Well, actually, we may have to, because even the new drainage system at Nicholson backs up when it rains.
Justin Franklin is a 19-year-old political communication sophomore from Memphis, Tennessee.