New dorms coming
Residence hall — This sketch shows what the new dormitories on the current site of Liberty’s Champion Circle residence halls could look like. Photo provided
When construction on a new eight-story residence hall begins next semester, the transformation across campus will venture into the student living space for the first time.
Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. announced the venture in Liberty’s convocation service Wednesday, Oct. 31. The tower residence hall will replace residence halls one through four on Liberty’s Champion Circle.
The project is part of what has been called Liberty’s campus transformation, a $250 million overhaul of the campus. According to Liberty News Service, more than $100 million in construction projects have gotten under way since the end of school last spring, compared to the $20 to $25 million in construction projects during a “normal year.”
The new residence hall will join more than 60 construction projects currently under way on Liberty’s campus, according to the Liberty News Service. These projects include the Jerry Falwell Library, a new baseball stadium, a new basketball practice facility and the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
With the construction set to begin in the upcoming spring semester, students currently living in those residence halls will have the choice of housing at the Quality Inn on Odd Fellows Road or at other dorms on campus.
Dorms — The new residence halls will be surrounded by lawns and foliage. Photo provided
The university recently purchased the hotel in anticipation of this project. Liberty students are already living in the Residential Annex, another university-owned hotel that allowed more residential students to attend the school when it lacked on-campus living space.
According to Falwell, the dining areas in the Annex will be expanded so that students in both hotels will share the same kitchen and dining room.
During his convocation address, the chancellor praised the students affected by the decision for their patience.
“They’re the ones sacrificing so we can make this university a world-class university in every way,” Falwell said.
The new state-of-the-art residential tower is scheduled to be finished by fall 2014, according to the Liberty News Service. Upon completion, it will be large enough to house all students currently living on the Champion Circle. In the future, Liberty officials plan to build five such residence halls in that location.
The current residence halls on Champion Circle were built in the late 1970s and were only meant to be temporary, but they have now been in use for more than 34 years, according to the Liberty News Service.
Falwell said that he wants current students to have the benefit of the new facilities, which will feature two beds and one bathroom per room and lounge areas on each floor that are separated from the residence halls, where male and female students can interact.
“Liberty needs to replace these 34-year-old dorms that were meant to only be temporary dorms when they were built in 1977 without further delay. The new dorms will help Liberty continue to attract the best Christian college students in the nation,” Falwell said in a letter to the student body. “God has given Liberty the resources to make this university a better Christian university, and we feel we have a responsibility to do it while construction costs are still low due to the poor economy and to do it without delay.”