MISSOULA — This time last year, the doors of The Sawyer student housing located in Missoula’s Sawmill District opened for the first time for University of Montana students. Just one year later, the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing with it new procedures for incoming tenants.
Property management and staff are following the new standard of masks in all gathering places and having sanitizer on-hand at all times. The Sawyer management has also been diligent in reaching out to tenants urging them to communicate with new roommates regarding health and safety protocols, and general expectations within their suites.
In addition, a quarantine suite has been set aside for anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus and has nowhere else to go.
Property manager Catie Peissig says their biggest change from 2019 to 2020 is the way they are allowing new tenants to move in.
“Depending on what students needed we were able to start moving them in towards the end of last month in July, and stagger those move-ins basically throughout this whole month, our main move-in will be this coming Saturday, August 15," Peissig said. "But we’ve been able to kind of trickle them in, we’ve had a couple of bigger Saturdays, but it’s limited the number of people that we’ve had here at one time, which has been really helpful for us and for them."
Peissig adds that she believes the layout of the suites is ideal for this pandemic, as each of the four rooms within a unit are separated, and each has its own adjoining bathroom.
