A building at The Grove with workers still on the roof after move-in day. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student. 

The Grove student living is described as “fully loaded college living,” and on paper it looks impressive.

On The Grove’s website, the list of amenities at the complex includes high speed internet, premium cable, a washer and dryer in the apartment, a sand volleyball court and a pool. However, The Grove has run into trouble getting the complex finished in time for move-in, and students are getting frustrated.

Reports say the foundation for the buildings, which was laid last year, was damaged by the extreme cold from this past winter.

This setback was only the start for the buildings and for the problems students would be facing as the move-in date quickly approached.

There are 13 buildings in the entire Grove complex, and only eight were finished in time for move-in.

Students living in the buildings that are not finished have been given hotel rooms for the time being until their buildings are completed.

For the buildings that are finished, students were told that Aug. 23 was the big move-in day. The Grove Grand Forks’ twitter, @GroveGrandForks was enthusiastically tweeting about the big day saying “42 hours and counting!” And the day before it exclaimed “TOMORROW!!!”

What greeted some students were not move-in ready conditions.

One of the most concerning problems was mold found in the apartments. When a problem as serious as mold is discovered, it is important for the building managers to act immediately. Residents said that management resolved the issue as fast as possible.

“Aug. 23 was our move-in date and we found the mold. There were a few other aesthetic issues but nothing else major,” UND senior Mike Kocsis said. “The Grove immediately started working on the mold that day,” said Kocsis. “They also hired Steamatic, which is a local carpet cleaning company, to help them fix it. The city health inspector went through our apartment and he gave it the OK.”

Kocsis said since the mold issue was resolved, The Grove has been helpful with any other issues that have come up.

“They have asked about every two days if we have had any other issues that they can fix,” said Kocsis.

Kocsis says despite the initial anger and disappointment, he has been happy with how the Grove has handled the situation.

“I personally blame the construction company more than the building management as the construction workers didn’t allow The Grove employees on the property until one or two days before move in day to conduct proper last minute inspections of every single room” Kocsis said.

Sophomore Meaghan McCown also moved into the Grove on Aug. 23. Although her apartment was mold-free, as soon as she walked into her new apartment she noticed numerous problems.

“There were marks on some of the walls, our window wasn’t even put on correctly in the living room so wind came in constantly and there was some sort of putty on one of the bathroom floors,” McCown said.

Aside from the aesthetic flaws in the apartment, McCown also found other problems.

“The dishwasher, washer and dryer didn’t work, there was no hot water for about a week and there was a list of items left for us to clean,” she said.

At up 550 dollars a month per person, McCown says that so far the price of living in the Grove is “not worth it.”

Parker Payne is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].