News
A draft image of the new hall, yet to be officially named, has been released although changes may still be made to what you see.
Hyer Hall meets its demise; new hall plans unfold
The Pointer
jglod170@uwsp.edu
Soon students won’t just be living in apartments off-campus, but on-campus. Plans are unfolding as to a new residence hall being constructed on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus, with the beginning of development starting with the demolition of Hyer Hall this summer. The new residence hall will have 330 beds available for students and be aimed toward primarily junior, senior and graduate students.
“As you know, we have very traditional-style halls and they’re all the same,” said Joe Totman, director of residential living. “We’ve heard from students that they want different opportunities and I think this would provide that little bit of more flexibility, especially our older population. It’ll have a little bit more grown-up living, so to speak, more private space which we hear so often from students. Single rooms are becoming more and more common. We definitely know there is a need for it.”
The timeline for construction begins this summer with the demolition of Hyer Hall soon after school comes to a close. Ground breaking for the new hall will take place in November and work will commence with the target opening of fall 2011.
This new residence hall shall resemble an apartment building, using a style much like new halls put up at other campuses across the UW System. It will be a five-story residence hall with allotted space for lounges, programming rooms, study areas, meeting rooms, laundry rooms and more.
Each apartment is projected to be between 974 and 1030 square feet including four private bedrooms, one bathroom, one shower room, one living room, one vanity area and one kitchen. The kitchen will even include a refridgerator, stove and microwave.
“The reality is that all four people could be getting ready at the same time, one in the bathroom, one in the shower, and two by the vanity area,” said Totman.
The new hall is considering those students that may have special needs.
“We will have five apartments that will be handicap accessible, fully accessible for people with special needs,” said Totman.
The new hall planning is also looking into the aesthetics of the structure.
“If everything goes well, the entrance will be in the middle of the building facing south,” said Totman. “We’re hoping to have a fair amount of glass in the central stairwell located there, so that when people walking up the stairs will have a tremendous view looking out southward over the campus. I think that is going to be awesome if budget allows us to go that way.”
This new hall will be looking to be environmentally friendly as well, looking to attain the minimum of silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certification. According to LEED’s Web site they are a “third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.”
“We’ll be looking at the environmental things we can do,” said Totman. “For example, a lot of Hyer Hall will be recycled. We’ll be looking at the possibility of installing solar panels on the roof to heat the water in the building. One of the ideas that we’re going to look at doing is putting meters on each apartment or each wing to allow students to see their energy usage.”
A lot of the environmental factors rely on the budget. The total cost of this project is set at $35.5 million.
“We’re going to do as much as we can with environmental and sustainable features for the building with the money we have,” said Totman.
With the demolition of Hyer Hall eliminating about 175 beds, students will be asked to share rooms wherever possible, including staff, until the new residence hall is opened, with the exception of South Hall. The demolition will be taking place over the summer to avoid disturbing the students, especially during finals.
