619 West 113th Street

619 West 113th Street (formerly St.Hilda's House Convent or The Convent) is a Columbia Housing owned building on 113th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive. Housing and Student Affairs semi-officially call it the "SIC House".

History

619 West 113th Street was constructed in 1920. It served as a convent for the St. Hilda Episocpal nuns, a group founded by a nun castigated by other religious groups for her biracial status. In 2013, after roughly 50 years of residing in Morningside Heights, the St. Hilda nuns wished to move farther uptown to 150th Street, citing a need for cheaper real estate. They approached the school to see if it was interested in purchasing the building, an offer Columbia heartily accepted.

In the conversion from a convent to student housing, the space was renovated in 2013. It now features wood floors, as well as a large basement lounge and kitchen space. In addition, the cellar also houses a laundry room and a small print room. The renovation controversially included destroying the convent's formerly beautiful library.

Layout

The residence hall features an equal number of singles and doubles, housing a total of 78 students. Some doubles have bunk beds.

619 West 113th is sometimes used for special event housing, as well as temporary housing for some preorientation programs like the Columbia Urban Experience.

The first floor also houses some transfer students.

Special Interest Communities

In 2013, the space was split up for five special interest communities: The Student Wellness Project, Manhattan House, Creative Commons, Pre-Health, and ADi.

As the number of people in special interest communities grew, 'houses' had to be assigned to seperate brownstones. As of now, 619 West 113th is only home to ADi and Muse House.