WKU News & Events

September 25, 2002

WKU Dedicates Renovated
Residence Halls, Student Plaza

Bowling Green, Ky. - Northeast and Southwest halls -- the latest piece of a $40 million transformation of Western Kentucky University's residence halls - were dedicated Tuesday afternoon.

The two halls (formerly North, East, South and West halls) reopened this semester after a $14.5 million project by the WKU Student Life Foundation that included the renovation of the halls and the construction of a student plaza.

The project is a symbol of the transformation that's elevating Western "from a university of regional importance to a university of national prominence," President Gary Ransdell said.

Northeast, Southwest and the plaza "represent the real heart of what the Student Life Foundation has been about in improving the quality of life for our students," he said.

The project "benefits not only student life, but it benefits the university today, tomorrow and the years to come," said J. David Cole, chairman of the Student Life Foundation.

Dr. Ransdell said improvements, which include residence hall projects, renovations of Diddle Arena and construction of Media and Technology Hall, are having an impact on Western's enrollment and applicant pool. Enrollment hit a record of 17,770 this fall and Western's applicant pool topped 10,000 for the first time this year.

"Students want to be part of what the Student Life Foundation and projects like this make possible," he said.

Renovations were completed in 2001 at McLean Hall, are under way at Bates-Runner and Bemis Lawrence halls and are scheduled for Barnes-Campbell, Central and Poland halls.

"We should take special pride," Cole said. "There are no better student dorm room facilities in Kentucky than what you have right here. You can look around and you'll find none better."

Northeast and Southwest halls house 600 students. Each room has a private bathroom, moveable furniture, brighter lighting, sprinklers and smoke detectors, heat and air controls, and multiple electrical, voice, video and data outlets.

Connectors, which turned the four facilities into two, serve as the main entrances and include front desk, mailboxes and hall director offices. The buildings' former entrances have been transformed into community rooms that include laundry rooms, kitchens, vending areas and bathrooms.

The plaza, constructed through donations by area businesses and contractors, connects Northeast and Southwest along a closed section of Virginia Garrett Avenue.

Later this fall, Housing and Residence Life offices will move from Potter Hall to the ground floor of Southwest Hall.

The Student Life Foundation has accomplished several goals in its residence hall renovation project, according to Pat Hall, project manager. Those include adding air conditioning to all buildings, installing sprinklers, improving elevators, creating suite-style rooms, adding programming/academic space and increasing accessibility.

Bates-Runner Hall will reopen next fall. Bemis Lawrence Hall will reopen in the spring while Barnes-Campbell Hall will close for renovations. Central and Poland halls will be renovated during the 2003-04 school year. When sprinklers are installed in Keen Hall next summer, all of Western's residence halls will have the life safety devices

For more information, contact Housing and Residence Life at (270) 745-2037. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.