"There was a fire in Building One a couple years ago, so no one's been living there for some time," housing director Sandy Harpster said.

Buildings One, Six, and 15 will be the first to be renovated, so students living in buildings Six and 15 will have to be relocated if they intend to stay in the complex.

"We're not going to have anyone in the buildings as we renovate," Harpster said.

She said there will be changes to floor plans, and walls will be torn down in an effort to make the apartments bigger.

"They're still not going to be huge, but they'll be a little bit bigger than they are now," she said. "We're actually going to have a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments when we're finished. Currently there are just one- and two-bedroom apartments."

Studio apartments will not be available until the second round of renovations, which is expected to be finished in June 2005.

"It's probably good for families that are living here to have bigger apartments," said Laura Coleman (graduate-computer engineering), a Graduate Circle resident.

Renovations will occur a few buildings at a time, with the project slated to be entirely complete by December 2006. Carr said the complex is about 50 years old and is the only on-campus housing area without an Ethernet connection. "Everything works. It's just old, I guess," Coleman said.

Coleman expects to graduate next May, so she will not get to live in any of the renovated spaces. She will be able to remain in her current apartment next year because renovations on her building will not begin until after she leaves.

"Renovations are important to improve the overall conditions in the complex," Carr said.

Harpster said the project would also bring a washer and dryer to each apartment.

"There's community laundry in Graduate Circle right now. We will maintain those until all apartments are renovated," she said.

Updated appliances will include new stoves and refrigerators for each unit in addition to the laundry appliances.

"The only other option is a dishwasher, if there's space and plumbing permits," Harpster said.

She said final costs for the project were not yet available.

Graduate Circle Apartments are east of University Drive and are home to mostly graduate students, many of them with families.

Residents of the Graduate Circle apartment complex received a letter from Carr's office last week, and there will be three informational meetings about the project this week.

Carr said he wanted to make sure residents were informed of the renovation plans prior to the time they would have to sign leases for the apartments, a process which will occur as early as April 12 for some of the apartments.