In 2010, Ball State University will offer rooms for 600 additional students with the construction of North Residence Hall, a building approved by the Board of Trustees Friday.
North Residence Hall, a $43 million project, will be located north of Neely Avenue, across from Studebaker East and West residence halls. Many of the houses which will need to be knocked down for the building are already owned by Ball State, Kay Bales. dean of Student Life, said.
The building will be only about four stories tall and will be more modern than the current residence halls on campus.
"It will have the look and feel of the housing arrangement students want today," Tom Kinghorn, vice president for Business Affairs and treasurer, said.
This will be the second residence hall built in five years, as Park Hall is scheduled to open Fall 2007.
The board also unanimously approved renovations on the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, which was built in 1952. It was remodeled in 1992, and Kinghorn said the electricity, heating, cooling and ventilation need to be looked at.
While no additions are planned, he also said the entrance way was inadequate, and would probably be remodeled.
"It's a chance to really renew the Student Center in a major way," he said.
Before approval of the renovation, several organizations and individuals, including Student Government Association, campaigned for construction of a student center closer to the middle of campus. That will not be happening in the near future, Bales said.
"I don't foresee that anytime in the future, not with doing the renovations," Bales said. "Funding becomes an issue that you can't always do everything you want at the same time."
These two projects, plus the expansion of the Rec Center, are part two of a 15 year plan to improve Ball State's campus. The first phase was the Center for Communication, Information and Media, expansion of the Scheumann Stadium and construction of Park Hall.
All the projects in phase two are not applicable for state funds, and will be funded by the university and through private donations. The estimated combined cost of the construction is $96.5 million.
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