Progress continues on major campus building projects

As the Spring 2024 semester kicks off this week, Liberty University students are sure to notice the developments at major construction sites around campus, including Liberty’s fourth high-rise residence hall and a new parking garage.

Significant progress was made over Winter Break on the new Residential Commons IV residence hall, which will be an expansion of Residential Commons III, with a two-story connector that attaches back to the north side of the existing residence hall. The final floor was completed last week, and crews will begin installing trusses this week to the nine-story building. The project is expected to be completed in time for the Fall 2024 semester and will add 654 beds and two new resident director apartments.

Another exciting addition to campus is a seven-story parking garage near Green Hall and the LaHaye Ice Center that will hold 1,500 cars. This new garage will also include charging stations for electric vehicles. Construction began at the conclusion of the spring semester in May. Concrete panels are scheduled to be added during the first week of February and the projected date for student, faculty, and guest use is Labor Day Weekend.

Crews have been working since May 2021on a project to allow the expansion of Hydaway Lake at the Hydaway Outdoor Center on Liberty Mountain from 6 surface-acres to 31 surface-acres. A new dam and excavation work was completed in late summer and final approval was received from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August to start filling the new body of water. Crews are currently building a bridge over the lake at the existing dam location that will connect with the existing trail systems. With the current rains, the newly expanded lake is nearly half full and is expected to be full and completely operational by Memorial Day. The expansion will open new educational and recreational pursuits for students. In addition to swimming, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding, which are available to all students, the lake could also serve student-athletes from the Intramural Sports, Club Sports, and NCAA Division I Athletics teams.

Liberty Athletics programs, including the men’s golf and baseball teams, will see upgrades to their athletic facilities this semester. A 5,000-square-foot addition will be made to the baseball team’s home side dugouts along with three extra pitching lanes. At Liberty’s golf practice facility on Lone Jack Road on Liberty Mountain, crews are preparing for the creation of a training course that will include six fairways that will play as 18 holes as an expansion of their existing driving range. The project is expected to officially open in Spring 2025.

The newest campus facility to welcome students is the Reber-Thomas Dining Center, which opened for service at the beginning of the fall semester. The two-story, 120,000-square-foot facility boasts a seating capacity of more than 3,000 (outdoor and indoor seating) and 27 different stations with a variety of food options. It also includes a gluten-free bake shop, an allergen-free room, and chef stations for teaching culinary arts.