Project History

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Under President Caboni’s leadership, WKU embarked on an ambitious plan to restore the hilltop campus to the collaborative academic village envisioned by President Henry Hardin Cherry more than a century ago. The Commons at Helm Library and Garrett Plaza were the first steps in the hilltop restoration. Cherry Hall is next.

 

In 2022, after the General Assembly authorized the Postsecondary Education Asset Preservation Pool to provide funding for individual asset preservation, renovation and maintenance projects at Kentucky public postsecondary institutions, WKU began planning for its next project – a renovation and reimagining of Cherry Hall.

 

The state’s 2022-2024 budget authorized $683.5 million in bond funds for asset preservation. WKU’s allocation was $34,040,000 each year for a total of $68,080,000. WKU’s projects under review included Cherry Hall.

 

In June 2022, WKU’s Board of Regents approved a $30 million renovation and restoration of Cherry Hall. The process will be a multi-year undertaking that will address infrastructure issues bothinside and outside of the building. In April 2024, the state approved an additional allocation of $28.5 million each year of the 2024-2026 biennium through a second installment of asset preservation funding, allowing WKU to forge ahead with its ambitious campus transformation initiatives.

 

In August 2024, the WKU Board of Regents voted to approve increases to several campus improvement projects. Among them, the scope of work to preserve, renovate and modernize Cherry Hall was boosted from $30 million to $75 million after a feasibility study determined that the original $30 million authorization was not sufficient.

 

Similar to the renovation of The Commons at Helm Library, the Cherry Hall project will combine both new and old aspects of the building by keeping the 100-year-old marble stairs while reimagining classroom facilities for modern-day students, faculty and staff.