BIDDEFORD — Although a few finishing touches are being added to the exterior and landscaping, a new residence hall at the University of New England is ready to accommodate 300 students, who are scheduled to begin classes on Sept. 8.

The women’s field hockey team and men’s lacrosse team have already begun practicing on the university’s new blue turf field; it’s one of only three blue college fields in the country, said UNE’s Director of Campus Planning Alan Thibeault.

The entire project is costing the university more than $26 million; $2 million for the athletic field; $900,000 for modifications to Route 9, with the Maine Department of Transportation picking up $200,000 of that tab; and the remainder of the funds are being used for the residence hall, site work and landscaping.

Thibeault is enthusiastic about the project he has been charge of for the university.

“It’s been a great, great project. It really has.”

And he knows about every aspect of it.

The four-story building, which is already fully reserved, will house mostly sophomores, said Thibeault.

Each floor has student suites, which accommodate up to four people. Some suites have four single rooms, others are a combination of two single and one double room. The suites also include a common area with a kitchenette, which includes a microwave, refrigerator and counter with four stools for dining, and a furnished living area.

Each of the three top floors have two study rooms. On the first floor, there’s a small study room; a large common space with numerous tables where students can study, visit with each other, watch the 52-inch plasma television, which will soon arrive, or play Wii video games; and there is also a small fitness room.

While the building includes an elevator, the main stairwell is placed in a visible area to encourage students to use the stairs, which is good for their health and the environment, said Thibeault.

Energy efficiency has been a primary concern in constructing the new building, said Thibeault.

The dormitory, which will seek LEED certification, is 38 percent more energy efficient than a standard building, he said. Some of the efficiencies include an energy efficient on-site laundry, radiant heat, low flush toilets, a 99 percent efficient boiler, a highly efficient ventilation system, insulated walls and insulated windows.

In addition to the practical aspects of the building, aesthetics were also taken into consideration. There are great views from every room, said Thibeault.

Little things were thought out, like breaking up hallways with pieces of drywall, painted to match the wall and bits of molding.

Outside the residence hall is a man-made pond that will provide a nice view and in the winter it will be frozen for ice skating. Also there is abundant green, open space where students can, for instance, play flag football, said Thibeault.

The general contractor for the building is Allied Cook Construction, based in southern Maine. This is the fourteenth project the company has worked on for UNE since 1978, said company owner Matthew Cook.

“It was a great project,” said Cook. “It couldn’t have come at a better time, with the downturn in the economy,” he said.

His company was in charge of all aspects of the residence hall project including constructing the building and doing the site work and landscaping.

During the height of construction, more than 200 people were working at the site, said Cook. Some of the workers, including a number of the carpenters, were Biddeford residents, he said.

Allied Construction did not work on the modifications to Route 9, which the DOT headed up. This aspect of the project was especially controversial among Biddeford residents who live in the area who were concerned about how students crossing Route 9 from the new residence hall to the main campus would impact traffic.

The changes, which are still under construction, include building a traffic island, sidewalks, signals and other traffic calming effects. The majority of student crossings are expected to take place through a short tunnel under Route 9, which is already completed, said Thibeault.

The residence hall is the first of up to four dormitories that the Planning Board approved as part of the university’s five-year master plan.

More student housing is needed because students are required to live on campus for their first three years at UNE, said Thibeault. Right now that requirement cannot be accommodated with available student housing.

Undergraduate enrollment, has increased from 1,759 in 2008 to 2,019 this fall. The number of students living on the Biddeford campus was 1,099 in 2008 and will be 1,408 this year.

The athletic field is one of up to three fields that are also part of the master plan. In addition, an athletic field house was included in the master plan and fundraising for that building has begun, said Thibeault.

If funds can be raised, the university hopes to build the field house in the next two to three years, he said. In that same time period, another residence hall will likely be constructed.

Each individual project must be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.