*Editor’s note: This is an ongoing story regarding the Fieldstone apartment construction.

On Oct. 11 at 5 p.m., Fieldstone Apartments held a building management forum in the courtyard for residents to share concerns about the new building’s issues. Around 10 residents attended, discussing the lack of amenities, early morning construction noises and frequency of fire alarms going off.

Antonio Anastasiades, a senior management major, mentioned his struggle with insomnia and said that the combination of consistent construction and fire alarms make it hard to sleep. He recalled a recent fire alarm going off at around 4 a.m. that ran longer than 20 minutes.

Anastasiades attended the forum out of concern about the overall quality of living at Fieldstone.

“I know that [these issues are] something that can’t be controlled to a certain extent…but I feel like it’s something I should be getting discounted [on],” Anastasiades said.

Jaydon Diamond, Fieldstone community manager, said that the management team is working with a software development company to fix the fire alarm system.

Diamond added that Fieldstone management “has been in constant conversation” with the Amherst Fire Department regarding the cause of these alarms, a majority of which they claim have gone off from cooking.

Other students such as Olivia Elmstrom, a junior communication major, shared frustration about a lack of promised amenities upon her arrival. These amenities include a bouldering wall managed by UMass Recreation and the Terrace Café managed by UMass Dining.

Elmstrom said that she worked three jobs this summer to afford her rent — that starts at $1,504 — as she was not able to get on-campus housing. Elmstrom feels that she is “not getting what she is paying for.”

Diamond noted that onsite management does not have the power to lower rent, but that Fieldstone reduced rent prices by $250 for one month to compensate for unfinished amenities.

Students also shared concerns about construction at the back of the quad. Management claimed they requested the construction team to reduce the use of noisy exterior equipment until 9 a.m.

Rhea Patel, a senior economics and political science major, and Dean Diaz, a sophomore journalism major, both said they are still frequently awakened by exterior construction around 7 a.m.

Grace Lee can be reached at [email protected] and Olivia Capriotti can be reached at [email protected].