Only bulldozers and construction trailers are visible today, but Pelham Hall will soon be one of the school’s most innovative residence halls, boasting single, suite-style rooms and a slew of student amenities.

Pelham, one of Mount Vernon’s six residence halls, is scheduled to reopen in 2010 after being torn down last year to make way for the 92,300-square-foot project.

The new hall will be arranged suite style with four individual single rooms that share a common area and bathroom.

With 287 beds, Pelham will be the largest residence hall at Mount Vernon and will house mostly freshman students, though University officials hope that sophomores will opt to live there as well.

“It’s been our feeling that freshmen benefit from the influence of upperclassmen,” said Robert Snyder, director of Mount Vernon Campus Life.

The plan also includes a dining hall, a multirange fitness center that includes a group exercise room and a student theater with full light and sound capabilities. It is also slated to include an arts suite with digital media and studio art rooms, a dance studio, music practice rooms and a recording studio. It will contain all-purpose meeting rooms with full technological specifications available for student organization use.

The additional features will be built below-grade on the property’s sloping hill, with the residence rooms on the floors above.